Lukashenko crumpled up Sharpe's cheat sheet
The dramatic night events in Minsk became the first and so far successful example of the rapid suppression of the color revolution in the post-Soviet space.
The Belarusian authorities cut off the Internet in the republic in advance (however, President Alexander Lukashenko denies this, blaming insidious foreign countries). As a result, the protesters were disoriented, did not understand what was happening, and could not gather together.
Key iconic places in the capital of Minsk were blocked in advance. This is also why the demonstrators wandered aimlessly along the outlying streets.
Finally, the authorities were not afraid to immediately use special means: water cannons, flash-noise grenades, plastic bullets. Monday evening will show how justified this was. Judging by the number of protesters, it will be possible to understand whether the authorities’ calculation to intimidate some young people, and mainly, probably, their parents, was justified.
The authorities are also trying to erase the key episode of the typical color revolution scenario – the appearance of a sacred victim. The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs flatly denies the presence of deaths. Despite the fact that the opposition is diligently dispelling disturbing rumors, claiming that a young man died after jumping onto a police paddy wagon, which then threw him under the wheels at full speed (this video went viral on the Internet).
According to official information, 33 thousand people were detained at unauthorized events in 3 cities. As a result of the clashes, 50 citizens and 39 law enforcement officers were injured.
A man laying on the ground receives assistance during clashes with opposition supporters after polls closed at the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, August 9, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Yekaterinburg blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov sorted out photos and videos of night protests in Minsk and discovered a number of other episodes from Sharpe’s “manual” on color revolutions. In particular, young girls who tried to stick flowers into riot police shields.
“The manuals don’t change, it’s strange that they didn’t bring the piano.
Belarus had every chance to wake up in a country of democracy, gay pride parades and other things, Somalia, like Ukraine. But the last dictator of Europe, Lukashenko, ruined everything. He didn’t let a blogger’s wife be made president of a country with a population of 9 million (at this point I invariably start laughing, an excellent replacement, he’ll be cooler than Navalny). As a last resort, fighters against the regime appointed Tikhanovskaya as President of Belarus on Wikipedia. But even this did not break the tyrant,” Kolyasnikov wrote.
General Director of the Russian international news agency “Russia Today” Dmitry Kiselev believes that it was the negative example of Ukraine that gave Alexander Lukashenko determination.
“In Belarus, the example of Ukraine prevented the protesters from winning over the real people to their side. The same example of Ukraine inspired Lukashenko to take decisive action in Minsk. In this context, “revolutionaries” are perceived within the country primarily as destroyers. The destruction of Ukraine as an example is more frightening than anything else, and we have already seen so many pictures of protests around the world that nothing can surprise us,” Kiselev wrote in his telegram.
Political scientist Marat Bashirov notes that the Belarusian government has failed to win its rightful place in new media - social networks and instant messengers - which have been the main trigger of all color revolutions since the Arab Spring.
“Most of the Telegram channels covering the Belarusian story and only that are working against Lukashenko. They fill all the information/space with provoking videos and photos. If Lukashenko was preparing for such an attack, then he was not mistaken - they are working systematically and massively. Even many top Russian channels repost from their feeds,” Bashirov wrote.
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