Timeline of election turmoil in Belarus ------------------------------------------ SWEDEN ESTONIA LATVIA 200km 125 miles Moscow RUSSIA UKRAINE LITHUANIA Minsk BELARUS Kaliningrad (Russia) GERMANY POLAND ------------------------------------------ May 29: Video blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky is arrested after launching campaign to unseat President Alexander Lukashenko (above) ------------------------------------------ May 31: Opposition leader Mikola Statkevic is detained ------------------------------------------ Jun 18: Presidential candidate Viktor Babaryko arrested ------------------------------------------ Jun 19: Tikhanovsky’s wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (right) collects 100,000 signatures needed to stand in election ------------------------------------------ Jul 14: More than 250 people are arrested in protest after electoral commission rejects Babaryko’s candidacy ------------------------------------------ Jul 16: Supporters of Tikhanovskaya, Babaryko and Valery Tsepkalo (right) – former ambassador to Washington – join forces against Lukashenko ------------------------------------------ Jul 24: Tsepkalo flees to Moscow after being barred from running in election ------------------------------------------ Aug 8: Head of Tikhanovskaya’s election campaign is taken into custody ------------------------------------------ Aug 9, presidential election: Lukashenko claims victory with 80.23% of vote compared with Tikhanovskaya on 9.9% ------------------------------------------ Aug 9-11: Clashes between protesters and police in more than 30 towns and cities – 6,000 people detained. Lukashenko claims opposition is directed by Poland and Ukraine ------------------------------------------ Aug 11: Following threats, Tikhanovskaya flees to Lithuania ------------------------------------------ Aug 14: Poland opens its border, announces €11.4 million fund for Belarus ------------------------------------------ Aug 17: Opposition calls for general strike. Lukashenko heckled by striking workers during speech ------------------------------------------ Aug 23: 200,000 protesters march through Minsk ------------------------------------------ Aug 25: Some 350 athletes and members of sports community sign open letter calling for election to be annulled and detained protesters released ------------------------------------------ Aug 26: Lithuania proposes sanctions on 118 people, including Lukashenko, for vote-rigging and violence against protesters ------------------------------------------ Aug 27: President Vladimir Putin (above) warns protesters that Russian special operations force is ready to intervene in Belarus ------------------------------------------ Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, Stratfor Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS