Alexander Lukashenko

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting with the country's political activists in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020.(Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Russian spymaster accuses US of fomenting Belarus protests

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

In this file photo taken on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meet in the Black sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Alexander Lukashenko's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi come a day after an estimated 150,000 people flooded the streets of the Belarusian capital, demanding Lukashenko's resignation. (Sergei Chirikov/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Belarus leader visits Russia to secure support amid protests

By Vladimir Isachenkov - Associated Press

FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2020, file photo, Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus' opposition leaders, gestures during a rally in Minsk, Belarus. Kolesnikova, a professional flute player with no political experience, emerged as a key opposition activist in Belarus. She has appeared at protests of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after he was kept in power by an Aug. 9 election that his critics say was rigged. (Tut.By via AP, File)

Top Belarus activist says authorities threatened to kill her

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Police officers detain protesters during a rally in support of Maria Kolesnikova, a member of the Coordination Council created by the opposition to facilitate talks with Lukashenko on a transition of power, was detained Monday in the capital of Minsk with two other council members, in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. A leading opposition activist in Belarus is being held on the border with Ukraine after she resisted attempts by authorities to deport her from the country as part of a clampdown on protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. (AP Photo)

Nobel laureate warns arrests won’t stop Belarus protests

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

In this Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, file photo, Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus' opposition leaders, gestures during a rally in Minsk, Belarus. Maria Kolesnikova, a leading opposition activist and several other members of an opposition council in Belarus went missing Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, and their colleagues feared they were detained as part of the authorities' efforts to squelch nearly a month of protests against the reelection of the country's authoritarian leader. (Tut.By via AP, File)

Belarus activist resists authorities’ push to leave country

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

Belarusian opposition supporters with old Belarusian national flags gather toward the Independence Palace, the residential of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020. Sunday's demonstration marked the beginning of the fifth week of daily protests calling for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's resignation in the wake of allegedly manipulated elections. (AP Photo/TUT.by)

Belarus activist goes missing, colleagues fear detention

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Women march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Women's marches and demonstrations have become a regular feature of the four weeks of protest that have shaken Belarus following a disputed election that gave Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. The poster in the center reads &quot;proud to be Belarusian&quot;. (AP Photo)

Thousands of women in Belarus protest against Lukashenko

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a ceremony marking the traditional opening of the school year Baranovichi, 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Scores detained as students march against Belarus president

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

In this Aug. 9, 2020, file photo, a woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. In the three weeks since the election that kept President Alexander Lukashenko in power, hundreds of thousands of people have protested what they say was a rigged outcome. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Belarus poll workers describe fraud in Aug. 9 election

By Kostya Manenkov and Daria Litvinova - Associated Press

Battle for Belarus illustration by The Washington Times

Battle for Belarus: Former Soviet republic struggles to become a real republic

By Clifford D. May

FILE- In this file photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Minsk, Belarus. Putin warned that he stands ready to send police to Belarus if protests there turn violent, but added in an interview broadcast Thursday that there is no such need now and voiced hope for stabilizing the situation in the neighboring country. (Tatyana Zenkovich, Pool Photo via AP, File)

Putin: Russia stands ready to offer security help to Belarus

By YURAS KARMANAU and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV - Associated Press

FILE - This Aug. 23, 2020, file image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, shows Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko armed with a rifle near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus. His office released a video showing Lukashenko landing in a helicopter nearby and brandishing a Kalashnikov rifle as protesters marched nearby. He called the protesters “rats” as he inspected riot police guarding the residence. His youngest son, 15-year-old Nikolai, walked nearby, also carrying a rifle. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP, File)

In a shift, Belarus leader seeks to stem protests gradually

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Pavel Latushko, former culture minister and Belarusian Ambassador to France, greets his supporters and journalists on his way to Belarusian Investigative Committee in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Members of the opposition's Coordination Council, as Pavel Latushko and Svetlana Alexievich, Belarus' most famous writer who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, have been summoned for questioning over the protests in an apparent attempt by authorities to intimidate them. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Belarusian authorities crank up pressure on opposition

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

This image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, shows Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko armed with a Kalashnikov-type rifle near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. Lukashenko has made a dramatic show of defiance against the massive protests demanding his resignation, toting a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest as he strode off a helicopter that landed at his residence while demonstrators massed nearby. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP)

Police in Belarus detain opposition activists amid protests

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, people argue with police during a rally after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Police and protesters clashed in Belarus' capital and the major city of Brest on Sunday after the presidential election in which the authoritarian leader who has ruled for a quarter-century sought a sixth term in office. (AP Photo, File)

AP Explains: Why revolt in Belarus is different from Ukraine

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

About 200,000 protesters took to Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday. Protesters are demanding the authoritarian president's resignation. They are continuing the dissent since the disputed election. (Associated Press)

Protesters in Belarus gather to call for Alexander Lukashenko to step down as president

By Lauren Toms - The Washington Times

Thousands of people gather for a protest at the Independence square in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. Demonstrators are taking to the streets of the Belarusian capital and other cities, keeping up their push for the resignation of the nation's authoritarian leader. President Alexander Lukashenko has extended his 26-year rule in a vote the opposition saw as rigged. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Video shows armed Belarus president as protests roil capital

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting with the leadership of power structures and law enforcement in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Authorities in Belarus have detained a factory strike organizer and threatened protesters with criminal charges in the latest response to massive post-election protests challenging the country's authoritarian president. Lukashenko accused the United States of fomenting the unrest and vowed Friday to ensure a quick end to the protests demanding his resignation after 26 years. (Andrei Stasevich/Pool Photo via AP)

Belarus blocks over 50 news websites but protests continue

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian opposition supporters hold flowers and flash victory signs during a protest in Victory Square in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020. Demonstrators are taking to the streets of the Belarusian capital and other cities, keeping up their push for the resignation of the nation's authoritarian leader. President Alexander Lukashenko has extended his 26-year rule in a vote the opposition saw as rigged. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Belarus’ prosecutors open probe against opposition activists

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian opposition supporters gather for a protest rally in front of the government building at Independent Square in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Workers at more state-controlled companies and factories took part in the strike that began the day before and has encompassed several truck and tractor factories, a huge potash factory that accounts for a fifth of the world's potash fertilizer output and is the nation's top cash earner, state television and the country's most prominent theater. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Trump pressed on Belarus protests against Lukashenko

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times