www.militaar.net

Belarus Protests and actions of solidarity are happening all across the country: Vitebsk, Homel, Brest, Grodno, Bobruisk, Lida, Baranovichy, #Minsk. People are forming human chains. Cars are honking. Internet is down in the Minsk city centre

Belarus President Lukashenko has stated that authorities managed to thwart a "large-scale destabilization plan for Belarus", w.o. specifying what he means. Meanwhile, rival Viktor Babariko&his son, who were arrested yesterday, were sent to pre-trial detention, @beltanews reports

Protesters and journalists have been arrested in #Minsk and other cities. There was no connection in the city centre. Livestreaming was very popular in the past weeks and months,and people joined protests because they saw it on the internet,hence the authorites switched it off

Internet shutdown in Minsk. Authorities switched off 3G/LTE internet just one hour before the upcoming rally in Minsk downtown. All live streams are disrupted.

It happened after yesterday's live stream from protest by @rferl/ @svaboda was watched 1 million times.

Минские омоновцы массово увольняются, другие силовики запустили флешмоб: "Мы - 97%" Поддержка диктатора среди сотрудников МВД и спецслужб быстро испаряется
Ссылка по теме:
Почему Лукашенко в этот раз не может победить: https://youtu.be/HZI61OUD7vo

Amid rumours of Lukashenko's hospitalisation, Belarusian TV is showing video of him from July 16 when he said the opposition was planning to seize power by force.

The events of 2020 pushed Sviatlana #Tsikhanouskaya, a complete unknown until recently, into the position of the unlikely but most formidable challenger to the incumbent president Lukashenka, in power in #Belarus since 2020.

Sviatlana was born in 1982 in Mikashevichy, Brest region, and graduated from Mazyr Pedagogical Institute. She studied English and German, and worked as an interpreter and translator, including in the charities sector. Recently she stayed home to focus on raising her two kids.

Sviatlana remained out of limelight until her husband, prominent YouTube blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski announced plans to run for president. He was detained in early May and could not submit his application. Sviatlana decided to apply herself, as her husband was ineligible.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski was detained in Hrodna in west Belarus on 29 May - and stayed behind bars ever since. He was sent to SHU and mistreated in the meantime. He is, sadly, unlikely to be released before the election scheduled for 9 August.

Despite all the odds, including anonymous threats against her and her children, Sviatlana continued collecting necessary signatures needed to be qualified as a presidential candidate. Her campaign managed to get more than 100,000 needed.

On 14 July the Central Election Commission (CEC) registered Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya as one of the 5 presidential candiates. Two other strong candidates - Viktar Babaryka and Valery Tsapkala were disqualified on alleged procedural grounds.

CEC's calculation was probably due to the fact that Sviatlana was a woman, and with her husband under arrest, she would be the weaker candidate. This played nicely with statement by Lukashenka, who claimed that women were not fit to be president.

Two days later Sviatlana united forces with campaigns of Babaryka (with his campaign chief Maryia Kalesnikava in the photo on the left) and Tsapkala (with his wife Veranika on the right). This pulled together resources and staff.

In the latest online poll on Telegram (yes, it's terribly unrepresentative, but still an indicator), Sviatlana is clearly in the lead with 51%. The incumbent president has 3%. She is likely to lead among the younger, educated and urban voters, who want Belarus to change.

Today, with just 1 day notice, Sviatlana held her first campaign rally in Minsk. Some 10,000 people turned up, which is sizeable by Minsk standards. People seem to be re-energized by seeing a candidate they can connect to, and who offers a genuine alternative.

Social media in Belarus already responded to Tsikhanouskaya's candidacy - and her strongly feminist campaign, aided by other female politicians - with memes. And these memes clearly paint her as a favoured candidate for those on the internet: