Hundreds of protesters opposing Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, took to the streets and gathered for a demonstration in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on Thursday, August 6th.
The demonstrators, marking the third anniversary of the start of protests following Lukashenko’s controversial election as the President of Belarus, demanded his removal from office.
After Lukashenko claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election, protests against the election results persisted for months. Western countries supported the protesters’ call for a peaceful transfer of power and imposed economic sanctions against Belarus.
According to Reuters, Lukashenko’s security forces violently suppressed these protests, leading to a mass migration of Belarusian citizens. Many of these migrants have found refuge in Poland. In this context, Svitolana Mishurova, a 54-year-old physician on the sidelines of the protest, stated, “Today is a very important day. It’s been three years since we began our protests against Lukashenko, who stole our elections and our country through fraud. We want our country to be free so that our people can have a free choice in electing our president.”
