Thousands gather for military parade, defying coronavirus concerns

Thousands of people gathered in Minsk on Saturday to attend a Victory Day military parade, despite increasing numbers of coronavirus cases in Belarus, reports CNN.

Unlike other former Soviet states, Belarus did not cancel mass events to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and has not imposed strict self-isolation rules. 

Belarus has been criticized for inaction, continuing to hold football matches in the initial weeks of its outbreak, as other countries around the world stopped spectator sports and brought their economies to a halt.

For Victory Day celebrations. Minsk has set up seating up to 11,000 people, and 3,000 servicemen are also taking part in the parade, according to state-run Belarusian news agency Belta. Few people were seen wearing masks on the live-feed from the parade, aired by Belarusian TV stations. 

President Alexander Lukashenko’s decision to hold the parade amid the pandemic was met with criticism both abroad and at home, with over 13,000 people signing a petition to cancel the parade and use the funds to buy ventilators for hospitals. 

Lukashenko, who has publicly dismissed other countries’ coronavirus measures as “psychosis” and declared “it’s better to die standing than to live on your knees," addressed the criticism during the ceremony on Saturday. 

“In this crazy, disoriented world there will be people who will criticize us for timing and the location of this sacred event,” Lukashenko said. "And to them I say, like human to human, do not jump into conclusions and, moreover, do not rush to judge us, the descendants of victory.”

"We just couldn't have done it differently, we had no other choice, and even if we had, we would have done the same thing,” Lukashenko added.

Images of the celebrations showed a large number of spectators seated close together with very few wearing face masks, as servicemen and woman marched together in groups.

As of Saturday, Belarus, a country of 9.5 million, has officially reported 21,101 cases of coronavirus and more than 120 deaths, Johns Hopkins University figures show.