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<\/div>Correspondents in the city said tens of thousands filled the central square despite a heavy police presence.<\/p>\n
The protesters say Mr Lukashenko stole the election and want him to resign.<\/p>\n
The president has vowed to crush unrest and blamed the dissent on unnamed “foreign-backed revolutionaries”.<\/p>\n
Recent protests were met with a crackdown in which at least four people were killed. Demonstrators said they had been tortured in prisons.<\/p>\n
According to official results, Mr Lukashenko – who has ruled Belarus for 26 years – won more than 80% of the vote in the 9 August election and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 10%.<\/p>\n
There were no independent observers and the opposition alleges massive vote rigging.<\/p>\n
Ms Tikhanovskaya, who was forced to flee to neighbouring Lithuania the day after the election, vowed to “stand till the end” in the protests.<\/a><\/p>\n Tens of thousands of people – from the elderly to those with small children – poured into Independence Square on Sunday. Many were carrying the opposition’s red and white flags, and chanted “freedom” and anti-government slogans. After gathering in the square, some demonstrators moved towards the “Hero City” war memorial and the presidential palace. They were blocked by a security cordon before dispersing.<\/p>\n State television released a video showing Mr Lukashenko arriving at the presidential palace by helicopter, wearing a flak jacket and carrying an automatic weapon.<\/p>\n Similar demonstrations were held in other Belarusian cities. Meanwhile in Lithuania, thousands of people – including President Gitanas Naus\u0117da – formed a human chain from the capital Vilnius to the Belarusian border in solidarity with those protesting in Minsk.<\/p>\n More human chains were planned in the Estonian capital Tallinn and in Prague in the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n This weekend’s rally in Minsk follows the country’s biggest protest in modern history last Sunday, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets. Strike action in key factories across Belarus is also keeping up the pressure on the president.<\/p>\n Analysis by Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Minsk<\/strong><\/p>\n This was another massive demonstration carried out under the noses of Alexander Lukashenko’s security forces.<\/p>\n Belarus’s beleaguered president had instructed his interior ministry to end the “unrest” and promised to “solve the problem”. But in the end no serious effort was made to stop protesters gathering.<\/p>\n In the back streets leading into Independence Square there were long lines of riot police and army trucks. They looked on as the swelling crowd ignored loudspeaker warnings that this was an illegal gathering and to disperse.<\/p>\n These demonstrations are organic and loosely organised, so in the square there is no stage or PA system. That means no place for the few opposition leaders that remain free in Belarus to make speeches.<\/p>\n Instead the protesters marched around chanting “Long live Belarus” and “Go Away Lukashenko” before heading off towards a war memorial. Some told me that they had been scared to come but now felt safe surrounded by so many like-minded Belarusians.<\/p>\n The 65-year-old president insists he won the election fairly and has ruled holding another poll. On Saturday he accused Nato of “trying to topple the authorities” and install a new president in Minsk.<\/p>\n He said he was moving troops to the country’s western borders to counter a Nato build-up in Poland and Lithuania, and vowed to “defend the territorial integrity of our country”.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p08pfgkr.jpg\")
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What is happening in Minsk?<\/h2>\n
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Pro-opposition media say 100,000 people took part. State television put the crowd at 20,000.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p08pfss3.jpg\")
<\/div>![](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p08pdf7j.jpg\")
<\/div>![\"Presentational](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/16DD9\/production\/_114075639_dc02e0bf-6b00-4505-88a5-bfc40dbda17b.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\nLosing fear<\/h2>\n
![\"Presentational](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/1231\/production\/_114075640_3b286aa8-46e4-4d7d-a21a-1d09eec6a88a.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\nWhat has Lukashenko said?<\/h2>\n
![\"President](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/167DF\/production\/_114072129_tv062997824.jpg\")
Image copyright\u00a0<\/span>EPA<\/span><\/span>
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