In the days following the disputed vote, violent clashes with police left thousands of people detained and dozens injured, fueling protests of the size and duration unprecedented for Belarus. NIKOLAI Lukashenko will never agonise about what to do with his life. Three people have died during post-election protests and hundreds have been injured. Despite the heavy security, the atmosphere remained relaxed and festive. Presidential aide Nikolai Latyshenok came out to speak to protesters, but insisted Lukashenko would not negotiate with the opposition. A large contingent of security services and police vans were deployed to the rally in the capital, raising fears of a repeat crackdown, but there were no immediate reports of clashes or detentions. Video shown on state news agency Belta showed a rifle-wielding President Alexander Lukashenko emerging from a helicopter after other unverified video shared on social media showed him hovering over huge protest crowds in the capital Minsk.No ammunition clip was visible in his weapon. Nikolai Lukashenko is becoming a star of social networks. European leaders have urged Lukashenko to establish a dialogue with the opposition, while Tikhanovskaya's supporters have set up a Coordination Council to organise a peaceful transfer of power. An estimated crowd of between 100,000 and 200,000 people attended the rally in Minsk as protests entered their third week after a contested election, which saw Lukashenko, 65, win by a landslide, although the opposition has called the vote rigged. A German government spokesman said Sunday they would summon the Belarus ambassador to the foreign ministry to protest the move. Belarusians have been protesting every day since the election on Aug. 9.
Mass opposition protests broke out across Belarus following a presidential election on August 9 that saw Lukashenko reelected for a sixth term. A Telegram messenger channel linked to Lukashenko's press service posted a picture of him in a bullet-proof vest holding a gun, and said it was taken at the palace as protesters were outside. On Saturday the foreign ministry withdrew accreditation for journalists from international media, including AFP, the BBC and Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe. An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people attended Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of rallies on previous weekends, the largest in the country since independence from the former USSR. Thousands of people attended similar rallies in other Belarusian cities, local media reported. Belarusian media circulated video and images on Sunday showing Lukashenko exiting a helicopter outside the presidential residence in the capital of Minsk sporting a bulletproof vest and an assault rifle. "I will not answer your question," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily briefing, in response a question of whether the Kremlin believed such behavior was adequate for a head of state.
He has been stoking fears of NATO forces aggregating on the country’s western border, a claim that the alliance denies. Presidential aide Nikolai Latyshenok came out to speak to protesters, but insisted Lukashenko would not negotiate with the opposition. Protesters faced off against armed interior troops and riot police using their shields to block them.