Protesters on August 23 tried to storm the Palace of Independence, but soon fled, said the press secretary of the president of the republic Natalia Eismont.
“The so-called protesters went, one might say, to a kind of storming of the building,” said the press secretary on the air of the ONT TV channel.
According to her, the protesters had the courage for a short time and “seeing what could happen, these people literally ran in the opposite direction.”
Eismont also clarified the situation with the moment when Lukashenka left the residence. The press secretary stressed that the head of state “did not run anywhere”, but called a helicopter and flew around the gathering areas of the protesters to get acquainted with the situation.
Then Lukashenko returned to the residence and continued his work.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic noted that there were no arrests in Minsk during the Sunday action.
Earlier on August 23, a video appeared on the network in which Lukashenka was captured in a helicopter, as well as the moment of his exit from the aircraft. At the same time, the Belarusian leader was armed with a machine gun. On his return to the residence, Lukashenka got out of the cordon and turned to the security officials, thanking them for their work.
Protest actions have been going on in Belarus since August 9 – from the date of the presidential elections. Opposition supporters did not recognize the results of the vote, according to which Lukashenka was re-elected with 80.1% for a sixth term.