Minsk lost about 900 thousand Belarusian rubles ($ 350 thousand) due to protests in the Belarusian capital, which have been going on since August 9. This was stated in October 18 by the prosecutor of Minsk Oleg Lavrukhin in an interview with the STV TV channel.
“We can say that the city’s budget and utilities have suffered about 900 thousand. [белорусских] rubles, this is from August 9 to the present day, “- quoted by TASS.
Lavrukhin noted that part of this amount “will be covered, among other things, by those actions that are qualified as criminal offenses.” He added that the issue of compensation for damage is under special control in the Minsk prosecutor’s office.
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, won. Those who disagreed with this outcome took to the streets, and the mass protests have continued to this day.
Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya did not recognize the election results and called on the international community to support the demonstrators. The EU and the USA were considered illegitimate President Lukashenko.
Another protest action was held in Minsk on Sunday. To disperse the protesters, law enforcement agencies used special equipment, including rubber bullets. The Municipal Department of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee reported that this was done after an aggressive crowd threw stones at the service vehicles and law enforcement officers. The human rights center “Viasna” said that as of 20:00 Moscow time, 110 people are on the list of detainees published on the center’s website. The Minsk police department confirmed the fact of the arrests, but did not name the number of those arrested.