28 February – The first case of
COVID-19 in the country was registered in
Minsk.[3] The individual, a student from
Iran who had tested positive on 27 February, had arrived to the country via a flight from
Baku,
Azerbaijan, on 22 February.[4][5][6]
9 April – A mandatory 14-day self-isolation requirement was issued for foreigners and citizens with either confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, or the status of first or second level contact. The penalties for breaking the requirement include
administrative detention,
fines and
imprisonment.[11]
20 April –
Schools in the country reopen, but authorities say that parents are allowed to keep their children at home despite lifting of restrictions.[12]
May
9 May – The country received 100,000
rapid diagnostic COVID-19 tests from China to help combat the pandemic in the country, with another batch expected to be delivered in the coming week.[13]
14 July – The
Belarusian election commission bars two prominent opposition candidates to current
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko from running in the election, ensuring a victory for Lukashenko. The barred candidates are
Viktar Babaryka who was disqualified for an open criminal case against him and
Valery Tsepkalo whose signatures on a supporting petition were nullified.[17]
24 July – Prominent opposition leader
Valery Tsepkalo and his two sons flee to
Russia after being barred from running in the election and alleged threats of prosecution by the prosecutor's office, which declined to comment on Tsepkalo's escape.[18]
Lukashenko, in power
since 1994, declares a
landslide victory against the opposition, as
riot police clash with protesters in the capital
Minsk.
Protests in reaction to the disputed results have been reported in at least 20 other Belarusian cities. Fifty civilians and thirty-nine police officers were injured, while at least 3,000 protesters are arrested across the country, one-third of them in Minsk.[25][26]
A
police van in Minsk rams a group of protesters, hitting one of them. The condition of the victim is unknown, with reports of his death not confirmed.[27]
During the second day of protests across
Belarus, police fire
rubber bullets to disperse protesters in the capital
Minsk, wounding a journalist. About 30 people are arrested in the city; some protestors were beaten by police.[29]
A protester in Minsk is killed after an
explosive device blows up in his hands while he tried to throw it. It is the first death during the protests.[30]
A 25-year-old man from the city of
Gomel becomes the second protester killed since protests in
Belarus against the
government began. He died while in
police custody, according to his family.[33]
Belarusian women form human chains to condemn a crackdown on protests over the disputed election.[35]
Factory workers from state-run factories joined the protest. Tens of thousands of people protested for the fifth day in a row against the election results. The protesters marched through
Minsk and formed human chains.[36]
Amnesty International says "widespread
torture" is taking place inside detention centres in
Belarus, with more than 6,700 people detained since protests against Lukashenko broke out following the disputed presidential election result. Amnesty International says detainees described being stripped naked, beaten and threatened with rape. The
BBC also reports evidence of torture, including at the
Okrestina detention centre in
Minsk.[38][39]
In a defiant speech, Alexander Lukashenko addresses supporters in
Independence Square, Minsk, where he claims Belarus would "die as a state" if new elections were held, and accuses
NATO of "massing on the border". Opposition critics say most of those at the rally were coerced into attending and had been bussed in from other parts of the country.[44]
The Belarusian Ambassador to
Slovakia, Igor Leshchenya, defects to the
opposition after posting a video declaring his support for the protests.[45]
President
Alexander Lukashenko says he is "ready to share power in Belarus, although not under pressure from the streets". Meanwhile, opposition leader in-exile
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urges security forces to defect to her side and says she is prepared to lead the country.[48]
Addressing workers at a
truck factory, Lukashenko states that there will be no fresh elections "until you kill me", he warns. He urges people to let people who want to work to work amid a general strike. He is booed and jeered by the crowd.[49][50]
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko says he has ordered security forces to "end the unrest" in
Minsk, saying "People are tired. People demand peace and quiet", while also warning that state workers who joined a
general strike will not be given their jobs back, and will instead be "replaced by
Russians".[54]
The
Ministry of Defence describes anti-Lukashenko protesters as "
fascists", and says the
army will take over the protection of war memorials from local police forces.[56]
Footage shows Alexander Lukashenko departing a military helicopter outside the
Independence Palace in Minsk, brandishing an
assault rifle and wearing a bullet-proof vest. He then greeted a cordon of security forces guarding the palace. He was accompanied by his son
Nikolai Lukashenko. In another video, Lukashenko can be heard saying "They’ve run away like rats", while observing a protest in his helicopter.[57]
27 August – Police in
Belarus arrest 20 journalists who were planning to cover a protest in
Minsk and confiscated their telephones and identity documents. The interior ministry later said that the journalists had been driven to the police station to check they had valid accreditation allowing them to work as journalists.[59]
September
23 September – Spontaneous protests broke out in Minsk after an unannounced inauguration ceremony of President Alexander Lukashenko took place. Authorities fired tear gas, deployed water cannons and arrested more than 150 protesters from the gathering.[60]