Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belarusian authorities decided not to depart from the tradition of holding a Victory parade in Minsk. On May 9, Belsat reporters have gone live to cover the event.
The livestream on belsat.eu is scheduled for 10.30 (Minsk time), i.e. half an hour before the start of the parade. A string of military vehicles is expected to move along the central streets of the Belarusian capital – Independence Avenue and Masherau Avenue.
After the official function, our viewers will have the opportunity to watch the so-called anti-parade in the town of Babruysk. The Belarusian drivers are set to protest against the public celebration of May 9 amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. Its mover is Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the creator and author of of the popular video blog Страна для жизни (A Country For Life), who was detained by the Belarusian police on May, 6.
“At 12.00, the activists will place their cars on the two sides of Minskaya street, turn on the emergency lights and honk their horns,” the YouTuber announced earlier.
(UPD) Unfortunately, it is highly likely we will not be able to report from the anti-parade. On Saturday morning, the Maryina Horka police have detained Belsat TV cameraman Alyaksandr Barazenka who was about to film the event.
Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka is the only post-Soviet leader who refused to postpone the mass celebration of the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. A few days ago, the head of state said there was no reason to call off the Victory parade as the situation was ‘normal’ despite the lack of quarantine. He expressed confidence that the event would not do any harm to the participants’ health. In his view, the authorities do not need to urge people to attend it as there are ‘thousands’ of volunteers.
As of May 7, Belarusian health professionals registered 20,168 persons infected with the novel coronavirus; 116 patients have died. In spite of the increasing infection rate, the Belarusian authorities have not introduced any quarantine measures. President Lukashenka believes that imposing a nationwide lockdown would not improve the situation in Belarus. In his opinion, such steps might deal a crippling blow to the daily life of the nation. Although the Belarusian leader admitted that the recommendations by the World Health Organisation should be studied in detail, he stressed the country would run its own course.
