Alexander Lukashenko

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Workers with old Belarus national flags, one of them holds a poster reads &quot;Requirement # 1 Go away!&quot; gather during a rally at the Minsk Motor Plant in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. Some thousands of factory workers have taken to the streets of Minsk demanding the resignation of Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Belarus president remains defiant as protest strikes grow

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Workers with handmade posters reading &quot;Go away!&quot; march toward the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant where Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses employees in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. The top opposition candidate in Belarus' presidential vote who left the country last week announced Monday she was ready to &quot;act as a national leader&quot; to help Belarus transition to a rerun of an election that extended the 26-year rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and sparked unprecedented mass protests. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

EU president calls emergency summit on Belarus elections

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

FILE - In this June 30, 2020, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko greet World War II veterans during the opening of a monument in their honor in the village of Khoroshevo northwest of Moscow, Russia. As Belarus experiences spasms of protests and a brutal police crackdown, its giant neighbor Russia has been uncharacteristically low key in response. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Belarus chaos brings a poker-faced response from Russia

By JIM HEINTZ - Associated Press

Hundreds of supporters of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with Belarusian State flags, and a poster that reads: &quot;Our President, our Country!, Not let destroy the country&quot;, gather at Independent Square of Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators rallied at the spot in Belarus' capital where a protester died in clashes with police, calling for Lukashenko to resign. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Leader of Belarus rejects calls to rerun presidential vote

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, police clash with a protester following presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, that demonstrators have dismissed as rigged. Hundreds of people released from custody after a violent crackdown on protests in Belarus are sharing their accounts of harsh treatment at the hands of police. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Freed from Belarus jails, protesters recount beatings

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Relatives hug after being released from a detention center where protesters were detained during a mass rally following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. Nearly 7,000 people have been detained and hundreds injured in the clampdown on demonstrators protesting the official results that said Lukashenko won 80% of the vote and his top opposition challenger got only 10%. Police have broken up protests with stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and severe beatings. (AP Photo)

Thousands flood Belarus capital as election protests grow

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

About 200 women march in solidarity with protesters injured in the latest rallies against the results of the country's presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Belarus officials say police detained over 1,000 people during the latest protests against the results of the country's presidential election. (AP Photo)

Thousands in Belarus form ‘lines of solidarity’ in protest

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

A woman fights with a police officer as the other police officers detain an opposition supporter protesting the election results as protesters encounter aggressive police tactics in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. Heavy police cordons blocking Minsk's central squares and avenues didn't discourage the demonstrators who again took to the streets chanting &quot;Shame!&quot; and &quot;Long live Belarus!&quot; Police moved quickly Tuesday to separate and disperse scattered groups of protesters in the capital, but new pockets of resistance kept mushrooming across downtown Minsk. (AP Photo)

Thousands in Belarus decry president’s reelection as rigged

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a candidate for the presidential elections, speaks at a news conference after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. The country's central election commission said that with all ballots counted, Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for 26 years, took 80.23% of the vote and his main opposition challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, had only 9.9%. "We don't recognize these results," Tsikhanouskaya, a former English teacher and political novice, told reporters Monday. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarusian challenger, flees to Lithuania amid protests

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko smiles after voting at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. Belarusians are voting on whether to grant their authoritarian president a sixth term in office, following a campaign marked by unusually strong demonstrations by opposition supporters frustrated with the country's stumbling economy, political repression and weak response to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Belarus’ ruler vows to quash opposition rallies after vote

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

A Belarusian soldier casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. After 26 years in office, the authoritarian leader of Belarus is facing the toughest challenge yet as Alexander Lukashenko runs for a sixth term. Discontent over a worsening economy and his government's dismissive response to the coronavirus pandemic has helped fuel the country's largest opposition rallies since he became its first and only elected president following the collapse of the Soviet Union. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Police break up protests after Belarus presidential vote

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

FILE In this file photo taken on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Black sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Lukashenko faces a perfect storm as he seeks a sixth term in the election held Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020 after 26 years in office. Mounting public discontent over the worsening economy and his government’s bungled handling of the coronavirus pandemic has fueled the largest opposition rallies since the Soviet collapse. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

Belarus’ leader faces toughest challenge yet in Sunday vote

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

FILE In this file photo taken on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talks with an employee during his visit to sewing factory Slavyanka, specializes in producing clothing for adults and children, but recently the production of personal protective equipment has been established to help protect against the coronavirus, in the town of Bobruisk, 150 km (94 miles) southeast of Minsk, Belarus. Last month, Lukashenko abruptly announced that he got the virus himself but had no symptoms and recovered quickly thanks to doing sports. His bravado has angered many in Belarus, and combined with a painful economic fallout from the global pandemic it helped swell the opposition ranks ahead of the vote. (Maxim Guchek/ Pool Photo via AP, File)

Europeans urge fair election in Belarus, criticize run-up

Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, July 19, 2020, Belarusians, some of them wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, attend a meeting in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, in Minsk, Belarus. Previously apolitical, Kseniya Milya was among those who flocked to campaign rallies of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a 37-year old ex-teacher and wife of a jailed opposition blogger, who is challenging Lukashenko in Sunday's vote. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

President’s virus swagger fuels anger ahead of Belarus vote

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, shakes hand with Ukrainian journalist Dmitro Gordon prior to his interview in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA, Pool Photo via AP)

Belarus’ leader of 26 years warns against election protests

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

FILE In this file photo taken on Friday, July 3, 2020, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko looks on during Independence Day celebrations, in Minsk, Belarus. Lukashenko, a 65-year-old former Soviet state farm director, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for 26-years, has faced the largest opposition protests against his rule as he runs for re-election in Sunday's presidential vote. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Belarus leader pledges allegiance to Russia despite rift

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections greets people waving old Belarus flags during a meeting to show her support , n Brest, 326 km (203,7 miles) southwest of Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for Aug. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ex-teacher hopes to free Belarus from president’s iron fist

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Andrei Ravkov, the head of State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus speaks to the media in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, July 30, 2020. Belarusian authorities opened a criminal case on the charges of plotting a terrorist act against 33 Russian private military contractors detained earlier this week, Security Council secretary Andrei Ravkov said Thursday. The Russian contractors were detained on Wednesday by the Belarusian State Security Committee and accused of planning to destabilize Belarus ahead of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Belarus says Russians plotted attacks; Kremlin rolls eyes

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, right, inspects police vehicles as he visits the Belarusian Interior Ministry special forces base in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for Aug. 9, 2020. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Belarus detains 33 Russian contractors ahead of election

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko writes review as he his visits the military base in the town of Maryina Gorka, 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Minsk, Belarus, Friday, July 24, 2020. Lukashenko warned Thursday that Western media could be expelled from the country over what he described as their &quot;tendentious&quot; coverage of the presidential election next month in which he is seeking a sixth term. The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for August 9, 2020. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Barred presidential candidate flees Belarus, fearing arrest

By YURAS KARMANAU - Associated Press