Video: Former Belarusian Presidential Candidate Tikhanovskaya's Messages Made Under Duress

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has left the country and is currently in Lithuania, delivered two messages in a video released today under the pressure of authorities, according to her supporters.

It should be noted that after her departure from the country, two videos surfaced online in which the opposition candidate called on participants of the protests to reconcile with the election results and not to take to the streets.

Initially, Tikhanovskaya published a video on YouTube titled "Country for Life," where she spoke about the reasons for her departure. According to Tikhanovskaya, it was an "independent decision," and she mentioned that "children are the most important thing in our lives."

Later, another appeal from Tikhanovskaya was published on the pro-government Telegram channel "Yellow Plums," where she read from a piece of paper, urging the country's residents not to "go out into the streets" and "put their lives at risk."

After the release of the second video, many noted that it seemingly had been recorded in the office of Lydia Yermoshina, the chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus, where Tikhanovskaya had arrived the previous day to contest the election results and had been held alone with security personnel for several hours against her will. The couch on which Tikhanovskaya was seated strongly resembles the couch in Yermoshina's office.