This is Popular Front, a podcast focused on the niche details of modern warfare and underreported conflict with me Jake Hanrahan.

Today we're speaking to Risk and with me Jake Hanrahan.

Today we're speaking to risk analyst Alex Kokcharov.

He is from Belarus.

He focuses on Belarus as well as Ukraine, Russia, some of the places.

And he's going to be speaking to us about the

clashes happening right now in Belarus where it looks very much like the

dictator let's moments how words the dictator Lukashenko has rigged the

election it looks very much like that has happened and the

protesters the people have come out onto the street and are absolutely sick of it

they've been met with a very harsh crackdown security force has been beating

them one protester has been killed there has been live rounds there has been beating them one protester has been killed there has been live

rounds there has been a military scene it's all going mad right now so

Alex is going to explain to us what is happening if you like what we're doing

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Patreon.com slash Popular Front.

Before we get into the current events maybe you can give us a little kind of

brief history of the situation in Belarus and you know Lukashenko has been in

power since 1994 maybe you can just go over that

because a lot of people actually have not really any clue where Belarus is or

what it is so for a lot of people this is kind of come as a shock like where is this place and why is it going mad you know?

So Belarus became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991 when the US-S- Disintegrated and actually the agreement on the

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