The arrest of 33 Russian mercenaries amid election chaos in Belarus is testing Putin's patience
Sunday's re-election of Aleksander Lukashenko as president of Belarus appears to have been a debacle: He claims to have received over 80% of the vote, sparking violence overnight from incredulous opposition supporters who simply don't believe the numbers. Officially, Lukashenko defeated a slate of challengers including principal rival Svetlana Tikhanovskay, the wife of a jailed opposition figure who was forced by the arrests of her campaign staff Saturday to go into hiding in the capital of Minsk.
At least 120 people were detained in protests that spread to Brest, Gomel, and Grodno, among other Belarus cities.
Demonstrators could be seen on social media confronting police in the wake of the announcement. They claim pre-voting ballot stuffing by the incumbent party of 27 years started before polling had begun, and pointed to inflated vote counts in multiple precincts as evidence. In one case, activists recorded video of a poll worker escaping the back of a polling station on a ladder while clutching bags of what the activists claim are excess ballots.
Now, analysts and intelligence services are wondering how Russia, and its mercurial president, Vladimir Putin, will react to the unrest.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-arrest-of-33-russian-mercenaries-amid-election-chaos-in-belarus-is-testing-putins-patience/ar-BB17MXkB?li=BBnb7Kz
A preview of what's to come here?
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