Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced the start of a nationwide strike on October 26.

She wrote about this in her Telegram channel, commenting on the Sunday "march in honor of the People's Ultimatum" in Minsk.

“Belarusians have shown the regime today that peaceful protest is a constant creative force.

We are ready to give the floor and be responsible for it, ”said Tikhanovskaya.

Recall that on October 25, regular protest actions were held in Belarus.

The demonstrators came to the residence of Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, where they clashed with the security forces.

Law enforcers prepared for a meeting with the opposition in advance, having pulled special equipment to the presidential residence - army trucks, water cannons and Rubezh barrage vehicles.

The protesters began to gather on the streets of the Belarusian capital during the day.

At 14 o'clock they left the Freedom Square in the direction of the stele "Minsk - Hero City", from where they spontaneously proceeded to the center of the Belarusian capital.

On the eve of the protest actions, the city authorities closed several metro stations, as reported by the administration of the Minsk “subway” in the official Telegram channel.

Subsequently, the movement was restored.

In addition, the bandwidth of the mobile Internet was reduced in the capital.

This was announced on its Twitter page by the Belarusian telecom operator A1, referring to the order of the authorities.

  • Protests in Belarus

  • Reuters

"Fulfillment of this requirement leads to a deterioration in the quality of the data transfer service or temporary unavailability of the service," the message said.

Later, the operator informed that the connection was restored by 18:40.

The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus Olga Chemodanova did not comment on the data on the victims and detainees during the dispersal of the rallies.

“We will know all this information, whether there are any victims, by morning.

It is premature to talk about whether there are victims, how many (there are), how many people have been detained.

These data will be in the morning, "RIA Novosti quoted her as saying.

At the same time, as the police department of the Minsk City Executive Committee later reported, the security forces used special means on Orlovskaya Street (the police department is located on this street, and it also leads to the Palace of Independence. -

RT

) to "suppress the illegal actions of the protesters."

Law enforcement officials also carried out mass arrests of protesters.

This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing eyewitnesses to the events.

“Panic started, people heard loud explosions and saw bright flashes.

In some cases, grenades exploded right under the feet of the protesters, some remained standing in the smoke.

The rest scattered.

Following this, mass arrests began, people were seized and dragged into buses, ”the agency quotes the words of an eyewitness to the events.

Earlier, security forces used tear gas against protesters in the Grodno region, the city of Lida, where protests were also held on October 25.

It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the regional Department of Internal Affairs.

  • Elections in Belarus

  • Reuters

  • © Vasily Fedosenko

Ultimatum to Minsk

We will remind, earlier the ex-candidate for the presidency of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya put forward an ultimatum to the official Minsk, which expires at 23:59 on October 25.

“Two months of political crisis, violence and lawlessness have passed - and we've had enough.

On October 25, we announce the People's Ultimatum, ”she wrote in her Telegram channel.

The opposition demands that Alyaksandr Lukashenka announce his resignation, the violence in the streets ceases, and political prisoners are released.

“If our demands are not met by October 25, the whole country will peacefully take to the streets with the People's Ultimatum.

And on October 26, a national strike of all enterprises will begin, blocking of all roads, a collapse in sales in state stores, ”Tikhanovskaya stressed.

  • Svetlana Tikhanovskaya

  • Reuters

  • © Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix

To coordinate the protesters, the opposition even created a special resource called the "Center for Assistance to Strikers".

As of October 25, it reported about 5 thousand applications from workers willing to take part in the strike.

More than 325 Belarusian enterprises intend to join the action.

There is also a “Belarusian Solidarity Fund” that collects donations to support the protesters.

As reported on the website, funds are collected by “Belarusian diasporas” around the world.

Let us remind you that protests engulfed Belarus after the presidential elections held on August 9.

According to the Central Election Commission of the republic, the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko won them, gaining 80.1% of the vote.

His main rival was Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who happened to be in jail shortly before the elections.

According to official data, it was supported by 10.1% of Belarusians.

The opposition refused to recognize the election results and accused the authorities of falsifying the voting results.

Protests began in the country, the participants of which demanded re-elections.

The opposition received support from abroad: the European Union refused to recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.

A few days after the elections, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya left the republic, now she is in the EU. 

On October 25, Tikhanovskaya announced that the European Union is ready to provide Belarus with “billions of dollars” in support of Lukashenka's resignation.

“Many EU countries, in particular Poland, Romania, Lithuania, have prepared a project of assistance for future reforms.

We are talking about billions of dollars, ”she said.

"There are no levers of pressure"

However, experts doubt that the Belarusian opposition will achieve concessions from the government.

At the same time, in their opinion, if the ultimatum is fulfilled in full, it can hit the country's economy and, in particular, the standard of living of the population.

“The opposition considers such measures to be a lever of pressure on the current government.

It is difficult to say how such threats are perceived by the Belarusian society, since the population is now split.

There are Belarusians who fear for their future, as well as those who are radicalized.

True, strikes are unlikely to cover the overwhelming majority of Belarusian enterprises, ”said Sergei Margulis, a RANEPA teacher, in a commentary on RT.

Andrei Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics, shares a similar point of view.

  • Alexander Lukashenko

  • Reuters

  • © Nikolai Petrov / BelTA / Handout

Speaking about the threats of paralysis of the Belarusian economy, the expert explained that this is a common tactic of pressure on the authorities.

“But the shutdown of several companies will not affect the life of the republic, this is possible only in the event that such factories as Belaruskali or oil refineries are shut down.

Some factories may go on strike, but the bacchanalia is unlikely to begin in the country.

In Belarus, many realize that if Lukashenko leaves his post, life will become harder, and these people hope to see a prosperous state in the future, therefore they do not pay attention to such threats, ”the expert explained in a commentary on RT.

In his opinion, "Tikhanovskaya cannot be called a people's leader."

"If initially some of the protesters came out with socio-economic demands, then the opposition decided to seize the moment, seize the protests and impose their agenda on the masses," Suzdaltsev said in an interview with RT.

According to political scientist Alexander Asafov, the demands put forward by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya are in fact pursuing the interests of the Western countries, not the Belarusian people.

“This is a consolidated list of demands from the political elites of a number of Western countries directly to Alexander Lukashenko.

Despite the threatening tone of this ultimatum, the opposition has no leverage, since the strikes are unlikely to last longer than a week, ”Asafov predicted.