MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2020) The damage from the ongoing opposition rallies in Belarus has already reached $500 million and is expected to further increase to billions, Valery Belsky, an aide to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said on Wednesday.
"The current damage has already amounted to at least $500 million. The total amount is expected to reach billions. The foundations of the foreign lending system created over the years have been undermined, the country's investment attractiveness has suffered, sanctions are being discussed," Belsky said, as quoted by the state-run news agency, Belta.
Lukashenko's aide said the scale of the protests should not be overestimated since the opposition itself said that 200,000 people have joined the peaceful rallies, which corresponds to just three percent of the Belarusian population.
The opposition took to the streets after the announcement of the preliminary results of the August 9 presidential election, which saw the incumbent head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, win 80.1 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission. His main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, is believed by the opposition to have been the true victor.
Early into the rallies, the security forces utilized tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, but the heavy use of force has since subsided.
According to official data, more than 6,700 people were detained in the early days of the unrest. Hundreds of others have been injured during the riots, including more than 150 law enforcement officers, and three protesters have died.
