The authoritarian government of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has escalated its crackdowns against the opposition as protests continue to flare across the country in the wake of a falsified presidential election. Foreign journalists have been expelled en masse, and the embattled strongman president looks increasingly to be looking to Russia—where President Vladimir Putin is signaling stronger support for his fellow autocrat, emboldening Lukashenko to harsher actions even as tens of thousands of protests chant “Tribunal! Tribunal!” outside his residence. But Lukashenko may be misreading how far Putin is willing to go—and who his message was aimed at.
For the third Sunday in a row, Minsk was overflowing with protesters hoisting the red and white national flag. Their sheer weight of numbers deterred the deployment of wide-scale violence against them and sent a message that Lukashenko could not simply wait them out. But likewise, for the second week in a row, Lukashenko could be seen cavorting in a special forces uniform with a machine gun in hand.
