" YOU ARE A šTAKOR !"

Lukashenko asked for help from Moscow: Putin gave Belarus a loan of 1.5 billion dollars Putin also backed Lukashenko's plan for constitutional change, which the opposition dismissed as a hoax to stay in power. Writes: HinaPosted: September 14, 2020 9:08 pm 8742433 Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a $ 1.5 billion loan to Belarus on Monday after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has been protesting for more than a month, asked Moscow for help. A day after more than 100,000 people took to the streets of Minsk for the fifth weekend in a row, demanding his removal, Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia for 26 years, went to the Russian resort of Sochi to ask Putin for help. In addition to the loan, which Putin says was agreed with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin , Putin signaled support for Lukashenko in other ways. He said that defense cooperation between the two countries would continue. Russian news agencies reported that Moscow was sending paratroopers on Monday for joint military exercises with Belarusian forces. Putin also backed Lukashenko's plan for constitutional change, which the opposition dismissed as a hoax to stay in power after they allegedly rigged the election. Despite increasingly aggressive actions by security forces, Lukashenko failed to drive protesters off the streets. Tens of thousands of Belarusians told Lukashenko at protests on Sunday: "You are a rat!