Ukraine's State Border Guard Service has enhanced patrol of its border with Belarus due to the ongoing unrest there, media reported on Friday, citing an agency official
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2020) Ukraine's State Border Guard Service has enhanced patrol of its border with Belarus due to the ongoing unrest there, media reported on Friday, citing an agency official.
"We are guarding the border with Belarus in an enhanced way, since the situation in that country is rather turbulent. We switched to an enhanced regime after the beginning of the escalation of the situation in Belarus," Border Guard Service Spokesman Andriy Demchenko said, as reported by Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform.
According to Demchenko, the situation along the border with the northern neighbor is calm and no movement of the Belarusian military has been observed.
The spokesman added that all seven border crossings between the two countries are open with an average daily capacity of 4,000-5,000 people.
Nationwide protests broke out in Belarus after the August 9 election, in which incumbent Lukashenko won his sixth consecutive term with 80.1 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission. The opposition challenged the outcome, claiming that Tikhanovskaya, who came in second with roughly 10 percent, was the legitimate winner.
In the first days of the rallies, security forces used tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets against protesters, which caused serious concerns abroad.
According to official estimates, more than 6,700 people were detained in the early days of the unrest. Many of them have since been released. Hundreds of others, including more than 150 law enforcement officers, were injured, and three protesters died.
