Blasts and shots near maternity clinic: brutal end of protest rally in Minsk (video)

Sunday’s march in support of People’s Ultimatum which was held in the Belarusian capital city ended with siloviki’s brutal actions.

Up until the protesters started to approach the Palace of Independence (one of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s residences) from the side of Arlouskaya Street, there had hardly been reports about the Minsk police’s using excessive force.

Quite unexpectedly, security forces began throwing flashbang grenades and firing rubber bullets at the column of demonstrators when the march was coming to its end. There are reports about injured people; the explosions smashed in the windows in several blocks of flats. Notably, the violent dispersal took place in the vicinity of Mother and Child maternity clinic.

People were trying to hide in offstreet yards, but siloviki continued chasing them.

Moreover, they broke into some apartments, battered and grabbed protesters who found shelter there:

Ivan Kubrakou, Head of the Minsk police, claims that they had to take such severe measures in order to ‘put an end to illegal actions’. According to him, the demonstrators were about to attack Tsentralny district police department which is located in Arlouskaya Street.

belsat.eu