There would be nothing to write about the next protest in Minsk if law enforcement officers had not used flash-noise grenades at the very end.
The lack of eventfulness of today's march is surprising. After all, the self-proclaimed “national leader”, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is abroad under the control of Western intelligence services, declared October 25 “the last day when the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko can resign painlessly.” And then - a nationwide strike.
Lukashenko, as expected, did not resign and everyone expected something special from Sunday’s Maidan. But nothing happened. Even the water cannons didn’t work today, which is actually very humane - it was cold.
It is difficult to determine how many people gathered. The Polish “network” of telegram channels supporting the protests writes about hundreds of thousands, there are no official estimates. Photos and videos from the air are very different.
Be that as it may, the crowd gathered and walked through the streets. Everything is as usual. The problem with Belarusian protests is their silence. Still, the Ukrainian Maidans had a stage and speakers of varying degrees of brightness who set the agenda. Here are only hysterical exclamations in the messenger of young animators from Warsaw.
Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist, who sympathizes with the protests, Vladimir Vorsobin, was indignant in his Telegram channel at the “anti-Kyrgyzness” of Belarusians, who remind him of “ethereal elves, from whom the authorities are finally waiting for decisive steps, something clear, stern, so that with a clear conscience roll them into asphalt.”
“And today a decisive, final battle was announced, when everything is decided - the opposition announced an ultimatum. But in street showdowns, what if the ultimatum was not accepted? Fight until there's blood. A fight until the moment of truth - who is the king of the hill: Lukashenko or Tikhanovskaya? No other way. Loss of face... But on Sunday there was nothing in the “Kyrgyz view”. Dozens (not hundreds of thousands, I note) of protesters came to Stella, walked along Masherova, and then did everything to avoid meeting with riot police,” Vorsobin described the situation.
The journalist did not notice or did not want to notice the frankly un-elven behavior of the protesters. On Orlovskaya Street they threw bottles with unknown contents and stones at the windows of the police department of the Central District of Minsk. And then they rushed at the police, shining lasers in their eyes and throwing stones.
In response, law enforcement officers used stun grenades and (according to some sources) rubber bullets. The crowd scattered.
The video turned out impressive. The videos are already spreading opposition media and Polish telegram channels, motivating people not to go to work tomorrow.