MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2020) Tens of thousands gathered in the center of the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday for the third weekend of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
At least 20,000 were thronging Independence Square in the early afternoon. They held a minute of silence for two people killed in post-election clashes with security forces, a Sputnik correspondent said.
The unauthorized demonstration soon spilled over into Independence Avenue, causing the traffic to stop. The police have been urging protesters to disperse but there have been no arrests.
Meanwhile, dozens of military trucks have been spotted near a fenced-off WWII stele in the city center. The Defense Ministry said earlier it would protect memorials that protesters use as landmarks for their gatherings.
After several hours of chanting anti-government slogans outside the cabinet and parliament buildings in Independence Square the demonstrators headed out to the stele.
Several members of the transitional council, set up by Lukashenko's opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, were seen marching with the crowd. Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania soon after the August 9 election, won by the country's president of 26 years.
