MINSK, September 13. /TASS/. The Belarusian interior ministry has confirmed media reports that a police officer had fired a warning shot into the air during a rally in Minsk on Sunday.

"Some internet sources reported at about 18:00 local time that a sound resembling that of a gunshot had been heard in Minsk," the ministry’s spokeswoman, Olga Chemodanova, wrote on her Telegram channel. 

“As policemen were taking several protest activists into custody in downtown Minsk, other demonstrators, at least 100 of them, tried to prevent the arrests. A warning shot was fired from a slide-action gun into the air to stop the unlawful action."

She also said that more than 400 protesters had been detained in Minsk on Sunday. "As of 19:00 local time, the demonstrations have ended in almost all Belarusian cities, except for Minsk. Several hundred people were detained," she wrote. "More than 400 people were detained in various parts of Minsk."

​​​​​​Earlier, the ministry said that 250 protesters had been taken into custody in the Belarusian capital.

She rejected Euroradio reports that flash and sound grenades had been used against the protesters. "Law enforcement officers did not use flash and sound grenades," she stressed.

Tens of thousands of people took part in Sunday’s protests in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. According to tut.by, dozens were detained during the protests in Grodno. It also said that rallies had been held in other Belarusian cities, including Mogilev, Baranovichi, and Vitebsk.

Demonstrations have been sweeping across Belarus following the August 9 presidential elections. According to the official results released by the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won 80.10% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, garnering 10.12% of the ballot, but refused to recognize the election’s outcome. She soon left Belarus for Lithuania. In the first days, the rallies morphed into fierce clashes between the protesters and the police. The opposition is urging the protesters to carry on demonstrating, while the authorities are demanding that the illegal rallies be stopped.