The Internet in Belarus is disconnected from abroad, said President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday, August 10, during a meeting with the head of the CIS observer mission, Sergei Lebedev.
“Someone is itching to take to the streets. Even from abroad, they turn off the Internet in order to displease the population. Now our specialists are figuring out where this blocking comes from. Therefore, if the Internet does not work well, this is not our initiative, it is from abroad, ”the BelTA news agency quoted the president as saying.
Lukashenka also noted that the country is being “acted upon in a hybrid way in all directions” and they are trying to put pressure on it from different sides.
On August 9, Minsk residents complained that “YouTube is loading very slowly” and that Google services are not working. Complaints were also received from other cities, including Bobruisk and Vitebsk.
According to Vadim Shaybakov, deputy general director of the Internet operator Beltelecom for technical issues, this is due to channel congestion due to foreign traffic.
On the same day, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission, the current head of state is gaining 80.23% of the vote, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – 9.9%. The third place was taken by “candidate against all”. The turnout in the elections was 84%.