MINSK, February 4. /TASS/. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday said Belarus intercepted large shipments of weapons from Ukraine during the protests that broke out after presidential elections in 2020.

The president also recounted, in an interview with the Solovyov Live YouTube channel, how he and his forces prepared to defend the presidential residence.

Lukashenko said he was confident in his subordinates. "They did everything I told them," he said. "But I had to show them that I didn’t run away and my children didn’t either."

So Lukashenko got into a helicopter and landed at the residence shortly, carrying an assault rifle, he said. "The president's residence, especially where he lives, is always, especially during this period, a coveted prize for any rascal," he said. "Yes, they (the protesters - TASS) were planning an attack on the residence."

"I assumed that it is possible, because if they already went to storm the Palace of Independence, this is a big risk," he said. "After that, we were seizing huge shipments of weapons from Ukraine," he said.

The president said that one shipments of the intercepted weapons came from Russia, but it was manufactured in Ukraine.

Lukashenko also said the building of a sovereign Belarus the main goal of his life and the life of his generation. "Together with my colleagues who worked with me at different times, I created this sovereign, independent state for the first time in the history of Belarus," he said. "This is the main thing that my generation, not only me, did."

On August 9, 2020, presidential elections were held in Belarus. Lukashenko won, according to the Central Elections Commission. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second. She didn’t recognize the outcome of the elections and left the country. Mass protests began in the country after the results were announced, with clashes with security forces taking place during the first days of the rallies.