“Putin will support Lukashenko to the end.” What led to the protests in Belarus a year later

On May 8, 2020, the Central Election Commission of Belarus announced the start of the presidential campaign and set a voting date of August 9.

According to unofficial estimates, the rating of incumbent President Aleksandr Lukashenko didn't reach 10% at the time, and his main opponent was the recently unknown Svetlana Tikhanovska; she replaced her husband, blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was arrested.

Three months later, on August 9, exit polls appeared on national television channels, according to which Lukashenko won with more than 80% of the vote.

Few believed in a "victory." Therefore, immediately after that, mass protests began in Belarus. Over the next few days, dozens of videos appeared on the Internet of security forces beating activists, trying to catch up with those fleeing in a taxi, and beating those lying on the ground near the SIZO building with batons.

Svetlana Tikhanovska soon left the country, the legitimacy of Lukashenko's victory was recognized only by states with similar dictatorial regimes, and the whole world learned about the real white-red-white flag of Belarus, which became a symbol of protest.

How Belarus has changed in the last year and what the citizens of the neighboring state who fled from the regime to Ukraine think about it, find out in the Rubryka article.