This week marked the 100th day of protests in Belarus – we must not avert our attention

The horror show in Belarus is being overshadowed by news from the US but, writes Oliver Carroll, for the 9 million people of the small former Soviet state, it is every bit as deserving of our attention

Demonstrators in ‘The Square of Changes’ in Minsk (AFP via Getty Images)

Alexander Lukashenko has a history of being helped by world events.

In 2001, controversy over a rigged election was forgotten when, two days later, a Boeing 767 hit one of two twin towers. In 2006, following an equally suspicious vote, the Belarusian autocrat was ostracised, but within the year came Vladimir Putin’s infamous Munich speech declaring a new era of hostility, and the west began courting Lukashenko again.  

And 2010 saw another rigged election, another crackdown and more isolation – but that was cancelled out by Russian adventures in Ukraine in 2014.

Today, once again, a Belarusian horror show is being overshadowed by news elsewhere. This slow-boiling story is clearly in a different phase to the news spikes coming out of the US. But with the 9 million people of the small former Soviet state stuck in its cauldron, it is every bit as deserving of our attention.  

Monday marked the 100th day of a standoff between the people and Lukashenko’s government, which began with the disputed elections of 9 August. In those three months, Belarusians have witnessed many horrors. With the regime turning up the violence, and patience wearing thin, the obvious danger is that worse is yet to come.  

A nation of world war survivors, Belarusians are well known for their stoicism and patience. Local joke: a Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian enter a dark room that has a stool with a rusty nail sticking out. The Russian sits down on the nail, before jumping up and shouting obscenities. The Ukrainian sits down, jumps up, pulls the nail out and says it will come in handy on the farm. The Belarusian sits down, stands up, before sitting down on the nail again. “Maybe that’s how it’s meant to be,” he says.

A hundred and one days of protests have certainly moved the national passive image on somewhat. But the protests have still been marked by steely restraint from the people. How long this will hold out is anyone’s guess; there comes a time when steel snaps, too.

Last week, Lukashenko’s regime took their latest victim: 31-year-old Roman Bondarenko, delivered to a hospital with a broken skull after being snatched by unidentified officers. According to an official version of events, Mr Bondarenko died after a drunken fight. More than a thousand were arrested from marches to protest his passing.  

At various points throughout the last three months, the regime has appeared to regain control of events. Bound by blood, state terror squads have stayed loyal. The rest of the elite has also proved far more durable than expected.  

Yet time and time again, the 20-year ruler has proven incapable of controlling his darkest emotions. 

It isn’t the time to switch off.

Yours,

Oliver Carroll

Moscow correspondent