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Car Rams Russian Embassy Gate In Belarusian Capital

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A car rammed the gate of the Russian Embassy in Minsk on June 26, authorities with the city’s traffic police department said.

Belarusian investigators published a surveillance camera video that appears to show a light-colored vehicle driving at high speed before it strikes one of the embassy’s two gates, leaving it ajar.

An individual is seen getting out of the car and scaling another fence. Officials with the traffic police said on Telegram they had detained a 35-year-old male suspect. They also claimed the man had been under the influence of drugs.

It was unclear whether the incident was linked to Russia’s support of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has few other international allies.

Belarus has been wracked by antigovernment protest and a brutal response by Lukashenka’s government since he claimed victory for a sixth presidential term in an election in August.

Nearly 27 years after first taking office in 1994, Lukashenka has sought to extinguish dissent and independent media, making it difficult to confirm or disprove assertions from his administration.

The embattled opposition has demanded Lukashenka’s resignation and a new election, and many Western governments have echoed those calls.

The European Union on June 24 imposed sanctions on key sectors of the Belarusian economy and major revenue sources for the regime.

Based on reporting by dpa