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| Belarus election: Opposition leader Tikhanovskaya 'safe' in Lithuania | Belarus election: Opposition leader Tikhanovskaya 'safe' in Lithuania |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has left Belarus and is "safe" in Lithuania, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says. | Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has left Belarus and is "safe" in Lithuania, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says. |
| Ms Tikhanovskaya's departure came as protests went on for a second day over Sunday's disputed presidential poll. | Ms Tikhanovskaya's departure came as protests went on for a second day over Sunday's disputed presidential poll. |
| Her campaign team said she was avoiding the protests because of "possible provocations". | Her campaign team said she was avoiding the protests because of "possible provocations". |
| Election results gave President Alexander Lukashenko 80%, but Ms Tikhanovskaya refuses to accept them. | Election results gave President Alexander Lukashenko 80%, but Ms Tikhanovskaya refuses to accept them. |
| A lack of scrutiny, with no observers present, has led to allegations of widespread vote-rigging in the poll. The US and EU have condemned the vote. | A lack of scrutiny, with no observers present, has led to allegations of widespread vote-rigging in the poll. The US and EU have condemned the vote. |
| Mr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has described opposition supporters as "sheep" controlled from abroad. | Mr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has described opposition supporters as "sheep" controlled from abroad. |
| On Monday evening police in Belarus's capital Minsk fired rubber bullets to quash protests, and officials say one demonstrator died when an explosive device went off in his hands - the first confirmed fatality since the clashes began. | |
| How did we get here? | |
| Mr Linkevicius tweeted about Ms Tikhanovskaya's whereabouts on Tuesday morning after rumours that she had disappeared. | |
| There had been concern for her on Monday but her campaign later said she was "safe", without saying where. | |
| Mr Linkevicius told Lithuanian radio she had been detained for seven hours in Belarus but did not say why or by whom. | |
| The election campaign saw the rise of Ms Tikhanovskaya, 37, a former teacher who was a stay-at-home mother until she was thrust into the political spotlight. | |
| After her husband was arrested and blocked from registering for the vote, she stepped in to take his place. | |
| President Lukashenko has dismissed Ms Tikhanovskaya as a "poor little girl", manipulated by foreign "puppet masters". | |
| After the vote took place, her campaign said the results, which gave her just 9.9% of the vote, "did not correspond to reality" and vowed to challenge "numerous falsifications". | |
| Ms Tikhanovskaya told reporters that she had in fact won the election, and called on the authorities to relinquish power peacefully. Protests began as soon as polls closed and continued for a second night on Monday. | |
| However, Mr Lukashenko said he would respond robustly to the protests and not allow the country to be torn apart. | |
| A symbol of change, not a leader | |
| Svetlana Tikhanovskaya went missing after lodging an official complaint about the election result. She was quoted saying "I've made my decision" but nobody could confirm her whereabouts for many hours. | |
| Now the foreign minister of neighbouring Lithuania says she's there - and safe. How that happened isn't clear yet. | |
| On Monday, the KGB security service in Belarus claimed it foiled a plot to assassinate the opposition candidate - and make her a "sacrificial lamb", for protesters. At a news conference in Minsk, she seemed nervous, slightly unsure; the same day - she told the BBC she was scared. | |
| The fact Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has fled, though, won't affect the unprecedented mass protests that have rocked Belarus for a second night - crowds clashing with riot police. | |
| They're organised through social media - mainly Telegram - not by her campaign team and the candidate hadn't joined them in person. She only ran for president after her activist husband was arrested - and for voters, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has always been a symbol of change, a route to that, rather than a leader. | |
| What happened in Monday's protests? | |
| Riot police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of demonstrators rallying in the capital. | |
| Polish-based broadcaster Belsat TV aired footage of the police charging into the crowds. | |
| Reports say some of the demonstrators fought back, throwing petrol bombs. Protesters also tried to build barricades. | |
| A number of people were arrested. One journalist was injured, her colleagues and eyewitnesses said. | |
| Later on Monday, the interior ministry said a protester died when he "tried to throw an unidentified explosive device at members of law enforcement". | |
| "It exploded in his hand," the ministry said in a statement. | |
| Protests were also being held in other Belarusian cities. | |
| The internet, which was "significantly disrupted" on election day, continued to be mostly unavailable for a second day, according to online monitor NetBlocks. | |
| What has the international reaction been? | |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Belarusian counterpart on his victory, despite friction over accusations of a Russian plot, which Mr Lukashenko has tried to link to the opposition. | |
| The leaders of China and several former Soviet nations have sent messages of support. | |
| But the US said it was "deeply concerned" by the election and urged the government to "respect the right to peacefully assemble and to refrain from the use of force". | |
| European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the election results to be published, saying harassment and repression had no place in Europe. | |
| Individual EU countries expressed support for the demonstrators, and neighbouring Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said doubts over the election were "a direct road to violence, conflict and growing public outcry". | |
| What's the context? | |
| President Lukashenko, 65, was first elected in 1994. | |
| In the last vote in 2015, he was declared winner with 83.5% of the vote. There were no serious challengers and election observers reported problems in the counting and tabulation of votes. | |
| Anger towards Mr Lukashenko's government this time has been in part fuelled by its response to coronavirus. | |
| The president has downplayed the outbreak, advising citizens to drink vodka and use saunas to fight the disease. | |
| Belarus, which has a population of 9.5 million, has reported nearly 70,000 cases and almost 600 deaths. |