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Protesters rally outside Belarusian embassy in Kiev

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 16 Aug 2020

Protesters rally outside Belarusian embassy in Kiev

Wikimedia Commons

Kiev/Sputnik: Ukrainian and Belarusian protesters gathered on Sunday outside the Belarusian embassy in Kiev to protest suspected vote rigging at last week's presidential election.

The vote saw Belarus's long-time president Alexander, Lukashenko, win a sixth consecutive term, bringing thousands of protesters into the streets.

Rallies have been met with a massive crackdown, with 6,700 being detained and two men killed.

The police say more than 120 officers have been injured in clashes.

Dozens of Ukrainians and Belarusians came to the Belarusian embassy in the Ukrainian capital in a show of solidarity with those arrested.

They called on the Ukrainian government not to recognize the official outcome of the vote and grant asylum to those allegedly being repressed.

Belarusians living in Kiev demanded that President Lukashenko step down and that arrested protesters be allowed to walk free.

They also welcomed the European Union's plan to impose targeted sanctions on those it deemed responsible for the police violence and perceived electoral fraud.