Reuters reports that when protests erupted after the disputed election in Belarus, Anna Koval transformed the office of the travel agency she runs in Minsk, into the headquarters of a volunteer operation helping casualties of a police crackdown.
Her group of around 10 people, some of them doctors able to provide first aid, coordinated on social media as best they could in an internet blackout.
Alexander Lukashenko, the veteran leader who is the target of the protests, on Tuesday praised law enforcement officials for their “impeccable service”.
One night, Koval helped treat five injured protesters. Some demonstrators were too scared to go to hospital fearing police retribution, she said. In several cases, Koval had doctors sent to protesters’ homes.
Koval’s group is now collecting food and personal hygiene products and distributing them to people in hospital and, with the help of the Red Cross, to those in jail, she said.
