Since the heavily criticized presidential election on August 9, the Belarusian opposition has demanded the resignation of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Opposition leader and presidential candidate Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who is in exile in Lithuania, called for continued peaceful protests on Sunday.
"We will only end when every political prisoner is released, when the judiciary begins to defend the people and the rule of law, and when fair elections are held again in Belarus," she wrote in a statement.
Tens of thousands of protesters
The Russian news agency Interfax estimated that about 30,000 people went out to demonstrate in Minsk.
This means that many defied the police's threat of using lethal force against protesters.
This week, a senior police spokesman on Belarusian state television said firearms with sharp ammunition could be used against opposition protesters in the future.
According to the Interior Ministry, police fired warning shots with rubber-coated ammunition on Sunday.
- There is no return.
If they start firing, even more people would take to the streets, said Anzhela Krasovskaya, who demonstrated in Minsk.
Limited telephony
The telephone was severely disrupted on Sunday.
The mobile operator MTS Belarus stated that it had been ordered to limit the network in order to "maintain national security".
More than 13,000 people have been arrested in Belarus since the election, including a number of leading opposition figures, and there are many reports of beatings and torture in police custody and prisons.
The EU has agreed on sanctions against Belarus and has stated that Lukashenko is no longer considered the country's rightful president.