Riot police harshly detained more than 400 demonstrators in Belarus on Sunday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets, on the eve of crunch talks between President Alexander Lukashenko and his main ally, Russia's Vladimir Putin.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have marched in Minsk on each of the past four weekends to demand Mr Lukashenko resign over a disputed August 9 presidential election, which he claimed to have won by a landslide.
AFP journalists said a similar number took part in the latest demonstration, with huge crowds flooding the streets despite an intensifying police crackdown.
Masked police officers in uniform and plain clothes violently detained people who gathered for the "March of Heroes" demonstration, pushing or punching them, video posted on the Belarusian news site Tut.by showed.
Riot police officers detain a protestor during the rally. Source: AAP
Police also resorted to the use of a pump-action shotgun, firing a "warning shot" in the air during a scuffle, the interior ministry said.
Access to mobile internet was limited and central metro stations closed, with authorities moving police vans, military vehicles and barbed wire into the centre ahead of the protest.
Thousands of demonstrators planning to head towards Mr Lukashenko's Palace of Independence residence and a second at the upscale Drozdy compound were blocked by police, with some officers seen dragging people across the tarmac.
Protesters also took to the streets in other cities including Gomel, Grodno and Brest, where police used water cannon against demonstrators.
Belarusians have been demonstrating against President Lukashenko's disputed re-election for a month, with the protest movement showing no sign of dying down.
"I came out for freedom and I am going to protest until we win it through peaceful means," 60-year old marcher Oleg Zimin told AFP.
He said he did not vote for Mr Lukashenko last month. "He always lied to us," he said.
Belarus 'not for sale'
The opposition urged Mr Lukashenko not to "sell the country" ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin since demonstrations began, which is set to take place in Russia on Monday.
"This country is not for sale," read one placard at the march. "Putin, don't grab (Belarus) or you'll choke," said another.
Andrei Gorbachevsky, a 29-year-old doctor, accused Mr Putin of treating Belarus as if it were a Russian province.
"He is supporting Lukashenko's regime, he's playing a strange game and that's why our people no longer trust him," he said.
Mr Putin and Mr Lukashenko are set to meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, with the Kremlin saying the talks will cover plans for closer integration between the neighbouring countries as well as key trade and energy projects.
Mr Putin has been keen to unify Russia and Belarus, and Moscow has accompanied its offers of military and economic aid with calls for tighter integration.
Analysts say Mr Putin may seek to exploit Mr Lukashenko's political vulnerability to wring concessions from him, but any agreements compromising Belarus's sovereignty and independence are likely to enrage Belarusian protesters further.
Sunday's demonstration came as Lukashenko's security forces have stepped up arrests of senior opposition figures who are still in Belarus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in June, 2020. Source: AAP
After a massive protest last Sunday, Maria Kolesnikova, one of three prominent women opposition figures, was jailed after she resisted expulsion and tore up her passport.
More than 600 people were detained last Sunday, while on Saturday riot police violently detained dozens of women demonstrators during a smaller protest in Minsk.
'Heroic people'
Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who the protest movement says won the vote on 9 August but was forced out of the country, paid tribute to all those who planned to take to the streets for Sunday's demonstration.
"Over the past month we have become a truly heroic people," Ms Tikhanovskaya, a political unknown until the election, said in a video address.
"We are continuing our fight for freedom," said the 38-year-old former stay-at-home mother, who has fled into exile in neighbouring EU member Lithuania.
Ms Tikhanovskaya contested the election after her blogger husband was jailed and barred from running along with several other prominent Lukashenko critics.
Presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya casts her ballot into the box at the polling station. Source: AAP
The unprecedented protests broke out after Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state for 26 years, claimed re-election with 80 percent.
Mr Lukashenko has refused to step down and has turned to Russia for support to remain in power.
On Friday, the United States said it would impose new sanctions on Belarusian figures within days and warned Moscow that continuing to back the strongman would only alienate Belarusians.
Speaking to reporters, US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun asked how Moscow could "back such a regime and such violence against peaceful citizens."
"If the Kremlin continues down this path, it risks turning the Belarusian people, who have no grievance with Russia, against Moscow," he said.
Historically Russians and Belarusians have enjoyed good relations and the opposition says the protests are not aimed at Russia.
Protesters join a women's march in support of the opposition in central Minsk on 12 September. Source: AAP
Mr Putin and Mr Lukashenko are set to meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, with the Kremlin saying the talks will cover integration plans as well as key trade and energy projects.
Mr Putin has been keen to unify Russia and Belarus, and Moscow has accompanied its offers of military and economic aid with calls for tighter integration.
Mr Lukashenko has in the past ruled out outright unification with Russia but his options are now limited, analysts say.
His security forces have detained thousands of protesters, many of whom have accused police of beatings and torture.
Several people have died in the crackdown.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday he was "deeply concerned" over the use of force against peaceful protesters and "the detention of people exercising their legitimate democratic rights."
The European Union said Saturday that it deplored "the increasingly open disregard for the rule of law in Belarus" and reiterated its determination to impose sanctions.
It said it was "ready to take further restrictive measures as necessary."
