Tens of thousands of protesters in Belarus have defied threats of a government crackdown to march through central Minsk, again voicing demands that the country’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, should step down. After two Sundays in which the opposition had called huge rallies in Minsk and been left largely unmolested by riot police, this week the president had promised protests would be met with a tough response. Cordons of riot police blocked off entrances to the central Independence Square where the rally was due to take place, and there were sightings of police vans, buses packed with troops and water cannon being deployed across the city. The heavy security presence did not deter protesters, with unofficial estimates suggesting that over 100,000 had converged on the centre of Minsk, many holding the red-and-white flags that have become a symbol of the protests. Other towns and cities across the country also held protest rallies. In Minsk, police detained over 125 protesters in the first two hours of the rally, though without the violence seen in the days immediately after Lukashenko’s contested election win on 9 August. Then, the savage beating of protesters served only to galvanise the insurrectionary mood. There were isolated skirmishes on Sunday as police tried to grab individuals from the crowd and others attempted to pull them away, while riot police pushed protesters back from several key spots in the city. There were also repeated sightings of armoured personnel carriers in Minsk, although they were not deployed near the crowds of protesters. Sunday was Lukashenko’s 66th birthday, and organisers called on those attending to bring him “gifts”. A large column of protesters converged on Lukashenko’s residence, heavily guarded by riot police, to jeer and shout from outside. They left abusive placards as well as photographs of those injured by riot police in recent weeks on the ground outside. There were also chants of “You’re the rat”, after footage released last week showed Lukashenko last flying over protesters in a helicopter last weekend and saying they had “scattered like rats”. On Sunday morning, Lukashenko and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held the latest in a series of recent telephone conversations. A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin wished Lukashenko a happy birthday and the two men agreed to meet soon in Moscow. The Kremlin has long found Lukashenko to be a frustrating partner, but appears to have settled on propping up the authoritarian leader as a preferable option to allowing the demands of the street protests to be granted. Putin said in an interview earlier this week that he had put together a special reserve of Russian law enforcement forces that were ready to fly to Belarus at short notice should the situation “get out of control”. Earlier this week, a Russian plane used to transport the leadership of the country’s FSB security service made a trip to Minsk for the second time in a little more than a week. No details were made public about who was onboard and the purpose of the visit, but it reinforced suspicions the Kremlin is backing Lukashenko and providing him with guidance and support. Towards the end of last Sunday’s large protest, Lukashenko was pictured dressed all in black and carrying an assault rifle, as he flew over the protests in his helicopter. This Sunday, Lukashenko’s press service said the president was again at his residence, and released another photograph of him striding outside carrying an automatic weapon, though it was unclear if the picture was indeed taken that day. During the past week, authorities in Minsk have cracked down on the few independent journalists in the country, stripping accreditation from 17 Belarusians working for foreign media outlets and deporting several Russian journalists. The country’s foreign ministry denied accreditation to most foreign journalists who applied, and has denied entry to the country to many who attempted to enter posing as tourists. In contrast, the Russian state outlet Russia Today has been able to broadcast from the country freely. Commenting on Saturday, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, wrote on Twitter: ‘“Today’s massive withdrawal of accreditations from foreign journalists representing world’s major independent media outlets is a total disgrace. Such a pathetic step only further highlights a moral bankruptcy of the de facto authorities of Belarus.” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition candidate who fled to Lithuania after threats in the aftermath of the election, said on Sunday the crackdown on media was “another sign that this regime is morally bankrupt”. Tikhanovskaya has suggested she could become “national leader” in a transition government that would hold power until new elections can be held. Her supporters have set up a coordination council to help facilitate the transfer of power, but Lukashenko’s prosecutors have opened a criminal case over its formation and called its leaders in for questioning. While Lukashenko retains the support of the riot police and the Kremlin, his legitimacy among his own people looks increasingly to have been irretrievably lost. On Sunday, more than 360 Belarusian sports figures signed an open letter calling for fresh elections.