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For over 140 days, Belarusians have been taking to the streets to protest against the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The first columns were spotted in the Belarusian capital city at the crack of dawn.
Again, today’s protest is not going to be a march in downtown Minsk; the rallies are being staged in the so-called decentralised format. People gather in their neighbourhoods and then move to the places previously defined in local chats. As a result, pro-government forces have more difficulty dispersing protesters who scattered all over the city.
Belarusians keep protesting despite snow and frost: November’s sociological study by Belarusian Analytical Laboratory showed that the demonstrators were ready to continue hitting the streets.
Neighbours’ demonstrations started in the morning: small columns formed in Minsk residential areas of Malinauka, Traktor Plant, Uruchcha and other places.
The residents of Lebyadziny bedroom community went out and headed to Drazdy (where one of Lukashenka’s residences is located), waving white-red -white flags and chanting ‘Long live Belarus!’
At about 12.30 (Minsk time), viewers started to inform Belsat TV about detentions.
Today’s protest action is commonly called ‘the March of Balloons’; people throughout Belarus are releasing white-red-white balloons, flags and other symbols into the sky.
