Huge Crowds Rally Against Lukashenka In Minsk

People began filling the streets of the city as they made their way toward the central Independence Square for the 15th day of protests against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. 

The protests were sparked by results from an August 9 election that gave Lukashenka just over 80 percent of the vote, a figure that immediately prompted accusations of rigged balloting.

The demonstrations seem to have become the greatest challenge yet to 26 years of authoritatian rule under Lukashenka. Public discontent with the man dubbed "the last dictator in Europe" has been on the rise as a result of Belarus's contracting economy and the president's controversial handling of the coronavirus crisis, which he has dismissed as "mass hysteria." 

Lukashenka meets with law enforcement and security services on August 21, two days before the planned mass demonstration in Minsk. He has described the wave of protests as part of "a plan for a color revolution with the agitation of the internal political situation in the country." He also vowed to take  "the most stringent measures" to protect the country's borders from what he called foreign interference. 

On the morning of the protest on August 23, several military transporters were spotted bringing army personnel into Minsk

The Defense Ministry issued a statement the same day describing the protesters as "fascists," and saying that it had deployed forces to protect war memorials from being desecrated. The ministry warned that the army would "deal with" what it described as any violation of peace and order in such places.

The heavy presence of security forces did not seem to deter the demonstrators, however, even though more than 7,000 have been detained and hundreds beaten amid a crackdown by authorities since protests erupted after the election. 

Police watch as protesters make their way toward the central rallying point on Independence Square. 

Many of the demonstrators were waving red-and-white flags and banners, which have become a symbol of the protest movement. 

The flag was used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before the country became part of the Soviet Union. It was also independent Belarus's official flag from 1991 to 1995, before a different state banner was introduced under Lukashenka. 

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have attended the protest rally in Minsk on August 23. 

Anti-government protests were also held elsewhere in Belarus on August 23, such as this mass rally in the western city of Hrodna. 

People take pictures of the protesters as they pass by their window in central Minsk. 

Two women in traditional headgear take part in the protest on Independence Square.