Roadside protests in Belarus as pressure on Lukashenko grows

Minsk, Belarus: Hundreds of Belarus opposition supporters were filmed protesting on a roadside in Minsk on Friday as part of wider protests against Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.

Overall, tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a sixth consecutive day demanding that Lukashenko step down, joined by workers at some of the state-owned industrial plants that are the centrepiece of his Soviet-style economic model. The country's opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Friday called for new protests and an election recount, piling pressure on strongman president Alexander Lukashenko as he faces the biggest challenge in his 26 years in power.

At least two protesters were killed and thousands detained in a violent crackdown this week, prompting the European Union to consider new sanctions on Belarus, which is seen by Russia as a strategic buffer against NATO and the EU.