MINSK: President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had offered full assistance to ensure security in Belarus as thousands held peaceful protests against his rule.

“To talk about the military element, we have an agreement with Russia... Such situations fall under that agreement,” Lukashenko told defence chiefs, quoted by Belta state news agency.

“I had a long, substantial conversation today with the Russian president ... We agreed that at our very first request, comprehensive help will be given to ensure the security of Belarus.”

In the capital Minsk, the opposition kept up the pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko with a new demonstration on Saturday.

Thousands of opposition supporters gathered near a metro station in the capital where a demonstrator died during this week’s police crackdown on protests against Lukashenko’s claim to have won re-election last Sunday.

With the opposition gaining momentum after days of demonstrations, Lukashenko’s main election challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had called on supporters to rally again over the weekend.

Demonstrators heaped flowers at the spot where Alexander Taraikovsky, 34, died on Monday. The crowd chanted “Thank you!” and raised victory signs while police kept a low profile.

Many held up photographs of protesters beaten during the crackdown while one man stood in his underwear revealing the purple bruises on his thighs, buttocks and back.

Hundreds of mourners also attended the dead protester’s funeral, including poet and former opposition candidate for president Vladimir Neklyayev, who said: “This cannot be forgiven”.

‘I’m really afraid’

Facing the biggest challenge to his rule since taking power in 1994, Lukashenko called in Moscow’s help and spoke on the phone with Putin, after warning there was “a threat not only to Belarus”.

The Kremlin said the leaders concluded the “problems” in Belarus would be “resolved soon” and the countries’ ties strengthened.

While Lukashenko periodically plays Moscow off against the neighbouring EU, Russia is Belarus’s closest ally and the countries have formed a “union state” linking their economies and militaries.

Opposition protesters criticised Lukashenko for seeking Moscow’s aid and said they feared a Russian intervention.

“It’s obvious that our president can’t deal with his own people any more, he’s seeking help in the east,” said Alexei Linich, a 27-year-old programmer.

“If Russia intervenes, that would be the worst. I’m really afraid of this,” said Olga Nesteruk, a landscape designer.

Meeting military chiefs, President Lukashenko ruled out foreign mediation between him and the protesters.

“We will not give up the country to anyone,” state news agency Belta quoted him as saying.

“We don’t need any foreign governments, any intermediaries.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday urged Lukashenko to “engage with civil society” while visiting Poland, which has offered to act as a mediator.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2020