Troop deployments, violent protests, and a police crackdown have followed Belarus’s August 9 presidential election. Although incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has been declared the winner, many observers inside Belarus consider the voting to have been rigged. Challenger Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has rejected preliminary official results, but called on both security forces and Belarusian citizens to refrain from violence.
RFE/RL local journalists with the Belarus Service and Current Time digital network defied constraints to produce outstanding coverage of the August 9 poll. They will continue, on the ground, in cities and towns, providing live, comprehensive reporting of the unprecedented situation inside Belarus, and whatever comes next. Contact them for comment.
TRACK RFE/RL’s comprehensive coverage of the election HERE
RFE/RL experts in Minsk and Prague are available for comment on the election and its aftermath:
- ALEXANDER LUKASHUK, RFE/RL Belarus Service Director (English/Belarusian/Russian)
lukashuka@rferl.org -- phone: +420.221.123.276 -- Twitter: @Svaboda
- KIRYL SUKHOTSKI, RFE/RL Current Time Executive Director for News (in Prague | English/Belarusian/Russian)
sukhotskik@currenttime.tv -- phone: +420.221.123.136 -- Twitter: @CurrentTimeTvLISTEN: The Week Ahead in Russia Podcast - Belarus And The Russian Reaction
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Find RFE/RL Experts at https://pressroom.rferl.org/experts
To schedule an interview with any of RFE/RL's experts, contact Martins Zvaners (zvanersm@rferl.org; +1.202.841.7712) in Washington or Joanna Levison (levisonj@rferl.org; +420.221.122.080) in Prague.