Key Takeaway: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will likely survive current mass protests but will emerge substantially more vulnerable to Russian pressure. Lukashenko claims to have won the August 9 election with 80 percent of the vote, sparking mass protests. Lukashenko is successfully containing the demonstrations and forced leading opposition candidate Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya to flee to Lithuania and denounce the protests. Lukashenko’s domestic position is nevertheless weakened by these unprecedented displays of public opposition, and his ability to resist pressure from the Kremlin is reduced.
OP-ED
Paisley Turner, Mason Clark: Turmoil in Belarus benefits the Kremlin
Belarus opposition supporters gather in central Minsk on August 15, 2020, to attend the funeral ceremony of Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester who died on August 10.
