Belarus troops enter Minsk amid protests

Belarus’ Soldiers and infantry fighting vehicles entered Minsk amid protests, according to Thomas van Linge.

Thomas van Linge, an Amsterdam based political science student, reported that armoured personnel carriers had entered the Belarusian capital, just when thousands are once again out to protest.

There are numerous reports that large military convoys with BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and unmarked BTR-70 armored personnel carriers are heading to the Minsk city center. Numerous witnesses have released a video of military vehicles on the streets of Minsk.

According to The Guardian, tens of thousands of protesters in Belarus have defied threats of a government crackdown to march through central Minsk, again voicing demands that the country’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, should step down.

After two Sundays in which the opposition had called huge rallies in Minsk and been left largely unmolested by riot police, this week the president had promised protests would be met with a tough response.

Tanks on the move in #Minsk in #Belarus, but information tells they are ordered to stand down (intimidation tactics), as thousands of protestors commerce on the streets. pic.twitter.com/PH0ZU0AulR

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@Sotiridi1) August 30, 2020

Intussen reden infanterie pantservoertuigen de hoofdstad #Minsk binnen… video via @tutby pic.twitter.com/j0EGFhXfXg

— Balliauw (@Balliauw) August 30, 2020