19:00 13.08.2020

Rally of solidarity with Belarusian protesters held near Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv

2 min read

An action of solidarity with participants of the protest actions that began after the elections of the Belarusian president last Sunday, August 9, took place in Kyiv near the building of Belarusian embassy on Thursday evening.

As the correspondent of Interfax-Ukraine reports, about 300 people gathered for the rally near the Embassy of Belarus. The event was organized by the international human rights organization Amnesty International.

The protesters brought with them posters calling to stop violence by law enforcement officers against protesters across Belarus, to release political prisoners, as well as white-red-white symbols.

Several protesters in balaclavas and with homemade shields lined up at the gates of the embassy, imitating the Belarusian OMON.

People chanted: "Long live Belarus!" and "Freedom for political prisoners!"

The protesters also demanded the release of Ukrainian volunteers from the Vostok-SOS organization, Kostiantyn Reutsky and Yevhen Vasyliev, who were detained in Belarus on Thursday.

The embassy building was guarded by the servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine, the law and order at the rally are provided by the employees of the National Police.

The protesters tried to enter the roadway on Kotsiubynskoho Street at the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus, they were stopped by law enforcement officers. After a verbal skirmish, the police blocked the street and allowed the protesters to occupy the roadway.

Several Belarusian citizens from Gomel and Minsk, who were forced to leave or not return to their home country from Ukraine after the start of the protests, also took part in the action.

At about 18:00 Thursday, the action officially ended, but people did not disband and, according to one of the participants, demand the release of Ukrainian citizens detained in Belarus.

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