MINSK, September 8. /TASS/. Member of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council Maria Kolesnikova has been detained while illegally crossing the border with Ukraine, where, according to the State Border Committee, she was passing through border control together with her associates Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Belarus-1 state-run TV channel reported on its Telegram channel.
There are no official reports on Kolesnikova’s detention yet. Belarusian State Border Committee Spokesman Anton Bychkovsky informed TASS that these individuals were passing through border control at the Aleksandrovka border crossing point at 4 am.
At the same time, the Belarus-1 TV channel reported that Kolesnikova, Kravtsov and Rodnenkov, whom it described as "members of the Coordination Council for the seizure of power," were trying to break through the border with Ukraine during an additional border check. According to the TV channel, Kolesnikova was detained.
Meanwhile, another of her associates, Coordination Council member Maxim Znak said neither Kolesnikova, nor Rodnenkov nor Kravtsov had any plans to leave the country.
Belarus held its presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission’s data, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won 80.10% of the vote, whereas Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was considered to be his key rival, garnered 10.12% of the ballot. Subsequently, she refused to recognize the outcome of the polls. After the results of exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests flared up in downtown Minsk and other cities. In the early days they were accompanied by clashes between protesters and police. The authorities call for an end to illegal rallies, while the Coordination Council set up by the opposition demands more protests.