Belarusian Opposition Leader Maria Kolesnikova Tore Up the Passport

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Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova tore up her passport to prevent her from being deported to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian interior minister said on Tuesday that the protest leader had successfully prevented “forced expulsion from her homeland”.

38-year-old Kolesnikova was picked up by masked men in the centre of Minsk on Monday and taken away in a minibus.

On Tuesday, Belarusian border guards stated that she had been arrested while trying to cross the border into Ukraine. The Opposition Coordination Council said Kolesnikova did not want to leave Belarus voluntarily.

“Maria Kolesnikova could not be deported from Belarus because this brave woman took steps to avoid being deported across the border,” Ukrainian minister Anton Gerashenko wrote on Facebook.

Since the elections of August 9, there have been massive demonstrations in Belarus against President Lukashenko, who is said to have won the ballot box with flying colours. He is accused of tampering with the results.