Protesters crowd Minsk as Belarus leader gets birthday call from Putin | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
May 30, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025
Protesters crowd Minsk as Belarus leader gets birthday call from Putin

World+Biz

Reuters
31 August, 2020, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2020, 03:42 pm

Related News

  • Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' as Russia makes gains in Ukraine
  • Trump says Putin has 'gone absolutely CRAZY', considering more sanctions on Russia
  • Trump to speak to Putin on end to war in Ukraine as Europeans demand ceasefire
  • Trump to speak to Russian, Ukrainian leaders on Monday after talks in Turkey
  • Ukraine's Zelenskiy insists on face-to-face talks with Putin in Istanbul

Protesters crowd Minsk as Belarus leader gets birthday call from Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a birthday phone call to invite Lukashenko to visit Moscow, a sign of the Kremlin’s willingness to back Lukashenko as he grapples with the unrest and the threat of new Western sanctions

Reuters
31 August, 2020, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2020, 03:42 pm
People take part in a protest against the presidential election results demanding the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and the release of political prisoners, in Minsk, Belarus August 16, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
People take part in a protest against the presidential election results demanding the resignation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and the release of political prisoners, in Minsk, Belarus August 16, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

Belarusians chanting "Happy Birthday, you rat" and flying red-and-white opposition flags gathered near President Alexander Lukashenko's residence on Sunday as protesters kept up pressure on the veteran leader to resign, before dispersing peacefully.

The president, in office for 26 years, has shown no inclination to step down. For the second weekend in a row he appeared in a black cap and carrying an automatic rifle while walking around his residence, according to a photo published by Russia's RIA news agency.

Lukashenko, who turned 66 on Sunday, is struggling to contain weeks of protests and strikes since winning an Aug. 9 election his opponents say was rigged. He denies electoral fraud and has said the protesters, whom he previously called "rats", are backed from abroad.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a birthday phone call to invite Lukashenko to visit Moscow, a sign of the Kremlin's willingness to back Lukashenko as he grapples with the unrest and the threat of new Western sanctions.

Tens of thousands of protesters streamed into central Minsk, carrying balloons, flowers and flags, in the afternoon. Belarus had a white-red-white flag for a brief period in the early 1990s and it has become a symbol of its anti-government protests.

Passing cars honked their horns in solidarity. Some women lay down in protest in front of a cordon of helmeted security forces.

Protesters then converged on Lukashenko's residence, which was guarded by a wall of security forces carrying shields. A column of armoured military vehicles was seen driving towards the city centre.

Police made sporadic detentions throughout the day, bundling people into prisoner vans. At least 140 people were detained, the interior ministry said, according to RIA. Some protesters resisted arrest by what appeared to be plain-clothes officers, an eyewitness said.

Earlier on Sunday, video footage shared by local media showed women dressed in traditional dress laying several pumpkins in front of the main government building, a folk custom intended to signal the rejection of a suitor.

In a holiday atmosphere, the protesters occasionally sang songs. At one point, a man draped in a flag got down on one knee and made a marriage proposal to a woman who accepted with a hug and a kiss as bystanders cheered.

Law enforcement officers detain opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus August 30, 2020. Tut.By via REUTERS

An aide to the president, Nikolai Latyshenok, ruled out holding talks with the opposition and said that, in his personal opinion, only around 20-30% of Belarusian society was against the president, Russian news agencies reported.

"It has been said many times, let's decide everything peacefully," TASS cited him as saying.

One of the country's largest mobile operators, A1, said it had reduced the capacity of mobile internet bandwidth at the government's request.

Putin's support

Belarus is Russia's closest ex-Soviet ally and its territory is an integral part of Moscow's European defence strategy. Nevertheless, Lukashenko is seen in Moscow as a prickly partner.

In the biggest sign yet of Russia's willingness to intervene to prop up Lukashenko, Putin said on Thursday the Kremlin had set up a "reserve police force" at Lukashenko's request, although it would be deployed only if necessary.

"It was agreed to hold a meeting in Moscow in the coming weeks," the Kremlin said in a statement after the leaders' call on Sunday.

The European Union is gearing up to impose new sanctions on Belarus. Lukashenko threatened on Friday to cut off European transit routes across his country in retaliation.

A onetime manager of a Soviet collective farm, Lukashenko has faced a wave of unrest including from sections of society normally seen as loyal, such as journalists from the tightly-controlled state media who quit and a sitting ambassador, who also resigned.

Hundreds of athletes, including Olympic medallists, published a demand for new elections in a sports website.

Top News

Belarus protest / Vladimir Putin / calls

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    'Heavy to very heavy' rainfall expected across country as land depression weakens further
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at a roundtable discussion organised by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) at its office in Tokyo on 30 May. Photo: UNB
    Prof Yunus seeks Japanese investment to boost Bangladesh’s recovery drive
  • Aminul Islam Bulbul. Photo: Collected
    Aminul Islam set to take charge as new BCB president

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Courtesy
    New notes featuring historic, archaeological structures of Bangladesh to be circulated from 1 June
  • Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed at the seminar titled “Bangladesh Seminar on Human Resources,” in Tokyo on 29 May 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Japan to recruit 100,000 Bangladeshi workers over next 5 years
  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Country's all jewellery shops to remain indefinitely closed in protest of VP Reponul's arrest: Bajus
  • Khondoker Rashed Maqsood. File Photo: Collected
    Investors urge removal of BSEC chairman in meeting with CA’s special assistant, submit list of demands
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh repays $3.5b foreign debt in 10 months of FY25

Related News

  • Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' as Russia makes gains in Ukraine
  • Trump says Putin has 'gone absolutely CRAZY', considering more sanctions on Russia
  • Trump to speak to Putin on end to war in Ukraine as Europeans demand ceasefire
  • Trump to speak to Russian, Ukrainian leaders on Monday after talks in Turkey
  • Ukraine's Zelenskiy insists on face-to-face talks with Putin in Istanbul

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

2h | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

4h | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

8h | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

3h | TBS Today
Record migrant deaths in 2024

Record migrant deaths in 2024

21h | Podcast
Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

6h | TBS Insight
News of The Day, 29 MAY 2025

News of The Day, 29 MAY 2025

23h | TBS News of the day
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net