MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2020) Maria Kolesnikova, a senior member of the coordination council of the Belarusian opposition, was thrown out of a car at the Ukrainian border by her own allies, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian broadcasters.
The Belarusian border service told Sputnik that Kolesnikova, Anton Rodnenkov, and Ivan Kravtsov went through the checkpoint in Belarus and headed toward Ukraine. Lukashenko also said that Kolesnikova and two other opposition figures were let through by the Belarusian border and customs service.
"There is heightened security at the border, so there is patrol out there. Naturally, they were stopped. They sped up the car. She seems to have been thrown out f the moving car," Lukashenko said.
According to the president, the border service then detained Kolesnikova.
"And the others went across the border, through the Ukrainian checkpoint. As far as I know Ukraine detained them. And we are in talks with them [Ukraine] to have them returned." Lukashenko said.
A member of the opposition council, Pavel Latushko, has said that there was an attempt to smuggle Kolesnikova to Ukraine by force, but she tore her passport to avoid it.
Belarus has seen numerous protests since August 9, when the presidential election was held. According to the Central Election Commission, Lukashenko was re-elected with 80.1 percent. The opposition refused to recognize the results of the vote. In the first few days, the law enforcement quelled the protests using tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, but then the police stopped using force. official data suggests more than 6,700 people were detained at the very beginning of the unrest. The Interior Ministry said hundreds were injured in the protests, including more than 130 law enforcement officers. Three protesters were confirmed to have died.
