Belarus

Opposition seeking president’s exit after disputed election calls for protests a day after hundreds of women were held.

Approximately 2,000 women took part in the latest protests to demand an end to President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.

Border Guard Service says border checkpoints remain open, though controls and inspections have been strengthened.

Russia-funded networks stand by embattled leader, who in turn uses their outlets to lavish praise on ‘brother’ Putin.

Lukashenko has closed borders with Poland and Lithuania, underlining repeated claims protests are driven by the West.

Kolesnikova is currently in jail in Minsk after ripping up her passport to thwart an attempt to expel her to Ukraine.

President Lukashenko began raising the question of changing Belarus’s constitution several years ago.

Russian leader agrees to $1.5bn loan with Minsk and says Belarus crisis should be resolved without foreign interference.

A brief history of Belarus’s rocky relationship with Russia, amid protests that threaten to end Lukashenko’s long rule.