Workers heckled President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus during his visit to a tractor plant Monday. Thousands of other workers are on strike, demanding a change of government after recent elections.

The country's scattered opposition is regaining its footing after President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed his security forces on protesters during four nights of unprecedented violence.

One man who fled his country in the face of possible arrest by the nation's strongman, President Alexander Lukashenko, tells NPR the West should insist on new, democratic elections.

Security forces have clashed with demonstrators since Sunday's election, which is widely viewed as fraudulent. Nearly 7,000 have been arrested. And the opposition candidate fled the country.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, often referred to as Europe's last dictator, claimed a sixth term in an election this week that much of the world sees as fraudulent.

Protesters in Belarus accuse the government of shutting down the Internet to interfere with their protest plans. An opposition candidate defeated in weekend elections fled to Lithuania for her safety.

President Putin made public that Russia has approved a coronavirus vaccine and will put it into production. Putin says one of his daughters has already been inoculated.

Five-term incumbent Alexander Lukashenko is declared the winner. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya rejects the results.

Opponents of the autocratic leader of Belarus have taken to the streets to protest the results of Sunday's presidential election, which show President Alexander Lukashenko winning in a landslide.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, is facing unprecedented opposition in Sunday's election from a political novice who says she only wants a clean vote.

"I'm tired of being silent. I'm tired of being afraid," said opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who entered the race after her blogger husband was jailed.

After nearly three weeks of protests in Russia's Far East over the arrest of a provincial governor, neither Moscow nor the protesters seem willing to back down.

The arrest of a popular regional governor has led to protests demanding his release. Amid the pandemic and an economic downturn, the protests pose an additional challenge for President Vladimir Putin.

Residents of Khabarovsk, a Russian city on the Chinese border, have held protests against the arrest of a popular governor for more than a week. The demonstrations signal growing discontent in Russia.

The U.S. isn't the only country where statues of controversial historical figures have been swept aside by protesters seeking a clean break with the past.

A bounty program on U.S. soldiers would constitute a "massive escalation" in Moscow's testy relations with Washington, says one Russia expert. A Russian lawmaker asks: "What would we get out of this?"

"It is very important to him to have this popular endorsement, even if it is a farce, even if it is a travesty of popular will," analyst Masha Lipman says of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's President Putin has turned the Soviet Union's costly victory over Nazi Germany into a substitute for a national ideology. A 75th anniversary parade planned for May is now set for Wednesday.

A Russian court has sentenced American Paul Whelan, accused of espionage, to 16 years in prison. He was arrested in 2018 at a hotel in Moscow. The former U.S. Marine says he was set up.

The accident, 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilling into a river, took place at a power plant in a city north of the Arctic Circle. Local officials face criminal charges for their slow response.