"Putin, take your fork out of the Belarusian potato": Tens of thousands of Belarusians at a new protest in Minsk

Tens of thousands of Belarusians gathered today in Minsk, for new demonstrations against the re-election of the long-time president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Dressed in white and red, as in previous protests, the demonstrators headed towards the presidential palace, Lukashenka's residence, in the afternoon.

They waved large red and white flags and chanted "Broomstick" and "Game over", while some beat drums, Agence France-Presse reported.

Some slogans were addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supports Lukashenko.

"Putin, take your fork out of the Belarusian potato," they chanted.

Since the police blocked the road to the presidential palace, the demonstrators changed their route and headed towards the city center, reports the Russian news agency TASS.

Earlier today, before the start of the walk to the presidential palace, the police tried to break up the protest and arrested several demonstrators for participating in an unsanctioned protest, TASS reported a statement from the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Belarus has been hit by a political crisis since the August 9 presidential election, when mass anti-government protests erupted across the country, sparked by official vote results showing Lukashenko winning more than 80 percent of the vote.

The Belarusian authorities tried to suppress the protests with arrests and repression. In the first days of the protests, the police dealt massively with the demonstrators, arresting more than 7.000 people and beating hundreds. The authorities then turned to selective arrests of opposition activists and demonstrators.

Lukashenko (66), who has ruled Belarus with a firm hand since July 1994, with repression of the opposition and independent media, accuses Western countries of inciting the protests.