The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, vowed Monday to cling tightly to power as many factory workers walked off their jobs and joined with hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters demanding his immediate resignation.
Lukashenko, who had flown by helicopter to a factory in Minsk in hopes of rallying support, was instead met with chants of “Leave!”…
As Lukashenko spoke at the factory, more than 5,000 workers from the Minsk Tractor Plant marched down the city’s streets calling for him to resign…
On Sunday, in a potentially ominous sign, a statement from the Kremlin said Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken by phone and that Putin had promised to stand ready to help his Belarusian counterpart in accordance with a collective military pact between the two countries….
Some 7,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and at least two have died. Videos of beatings and torture in jails at the hands of security forces have gone viral on social media.
Article submitted by, salticidae.