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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

10,000 March To Remember Short-Lived Belarus Republic

Compiled From Wire Services

About 10,000 people marched through the streets of Minsk on Sunday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of a short-lived Belarusian republic and to denounce President Alexander Lukashenko.

The opposition Popular Front said 50 of its members were arrested during the march and a rally that followed at the National Opera House. The Popular Front opposes Lukashenko’s authoritarian policies and the ties he has forged with Russia.

The rally was ostensibly held to commemorate the founding of the Belarusian Popular Republic on March 25, 1918, when German forces were ousted from Minsk in the waning days of World War I. The independent state was short-lived - within a year, much of Belarus was part of the Soviet Union.