Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus used special means to disperse protesters in Minsk. This information was confirmed to RIA Novosti by the press secretary of the Ministry Olga Chemodanova.
“I confirm the use of special means,” she said, without specifying which means were used and how many people were detained.
Earlier it was reported that the Belarusian security forces used tear gas against protesters in the capital of the republic. Mass arrests took place near the Pushkinskaya metro station, where opposition supporters were gathering. Gas from cans was sprayed towards the audience. A column of water cannons and paddy wagons also drove in this area. When people began to gather on the “square of changes”, the security forces pushed back the citizens and carried out new detentions.
Later it became known that in the area of ”Pushkinskaya” several explosions sounded, presumably they were flash-noise grenades. Several people were injured. In the area of the metro station, a woman was seen sitting on the ground with a bandaged leg. Eyewitnesses said she was hit by a grenade splinter.
For the last three months, mass protests have been taking place in Belarus over the official results of the presidential elections on August 9, according to which the current President Alexander Lukashenko won 80 percent of the vote. According to the Belarusian leader, the West stands behind the organization of the actions.