Sunday’s election in Belarus was shaping up to be historic amid the largest opposition demonstrations since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. AP’s two Minsk-based staffers, reporter Yuras Kamanau and photographer Sergei Grits, had been covering the protests led by former teacher Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was challenging longtime authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and whose husband had already been jailed.
In the week leading up to Sunday's vote, Kamanau and Grits were joined by Germany-based video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, the trio making up a dynamic team that scooped the competition and delivered compelling reporting and images throughout the week despite growing threats from authorities and amid an internet blackout that began as the votes rolled in.
The highlights included a powerful profile of Tsikhanouskaya, whom they traveled with as she met with thousands of supporters.
The team also dug into the impact of COVID-19 on the country and why it was driving people to the streets. They profiled a 26-year-old movie producer whose grandfather died of the virus in March as Lukashenko downplayed the virus and told his country not to worry about it. “I feel absolutely unprotected in this country. It can't protect you because this problem is ignored,” she told the AP team.
On Sunday, the team spent the day reporting on the lines at polling stations and talking to voters. After the state-run exit poll was announced showing Lukashenko with 80 percent of the vote, thousands took to the streets. They were met with force by riot police as the government shut down the internet and tried to close the country off from the rest of the world.
Neither action stopped the resourceful AP team from getting the story and getting it out to AP’s customers around the world.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, foreground, campaigns in Brest, Belarus, Aug. 2, 2020, a week before the presidential election.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko smiles after voting at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 9, 2020.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, opposition candidate for president, casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 9, 2020.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Protesters run through smoke during a clash with police after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 9, 2020.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Demonstrators run from police as they protest against the results of the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 9, 2020.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Police try to detain protesters during a mass rally following presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 10, 2020. Thousands of people protested in Belarus for a second straight night after official results from weekend elections gave an overwhelming victory to authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, extending his 26-year rule.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Protesters carry a wounded man during clashes with police after the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 10, 2020.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reacts during a news conference after the Belarusian election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 10, 2020. The country's central election commission said that with all ballots counted, authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for 26 years, took 80.23% of the vote and Tsikhanouskaya had 9.9%. “We don't recognize these results,” Tsikhanouskaya, a former English teacher and political novice, told reporters Monday.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
A woman gestures as she talks with riot police officers in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. Heavy police cordons blocking Minsk's central squares and avenues didn't discourage demonstrators who again took to the streets chanting “Shame!” and “Long live Belarus!” as police moved quickly to separate and disperse scattered groups of protesters in the capital, but new pockets of resistance kept appearing across downtown Minsk.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
About 200 women march in solidarity with protesters injured in the latest rallies against the results of the country’s presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 12, 2020. Belarus officials say police detained morean 1,000 people during the latest protests against the results of Sunday’s election.
AP Photo
While covering the protests, police beat Chernov and put him in a police van. Several journalists already had been arrested and/or forced to leave the country leading up to the vote, and the AP team took extensive safety precautions, but police used brute force against protesters and anyone else they saw. After treatment at a hospital, Chernov's main concern was getting his footage out to the world while the internet was down.
Grits managed to figure out a way to get photos and video out using an Android phone and a private network. It was slow – but it was faster than competitive agencies and it allowed AP to continue transmitting content from Minsk instead of having to leave the capital.
AP’s all-formats team in Moscow, particularly senior producer Tanya Titova and reporter Jim Heintz, helped the team with accreditation and access as well as delivering their reporting and images to AP customers. When it became clear that it would take a long time to get video of protests out, the Moscow team quickly picked up user-generated content to provide customers with coverage.
The AP delivered more video edits and coverage than the competition – and did it faster on election night. Chernov’s video was among the most-used, heavily featured the following day by major broadcasters and other news outlets. Grits’ photos and Kamanau’s text were featured prominently on websites around the world.