Protesters gather in front of government buildings

As protests over the recent election result continue in Belarus, large crowds gathered on Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs building and the government house in Minsk.

Hundreds of thousands of people protested the election results across the country, where President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, was re-elected with 80% of the vote.

During the first four days of demonstrations, police detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs, with the sporadic violent clashes between protesters and police leaving at least three protesters dead.

Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lost with only 10% of the vote, branded the elections a sham, prompting widespread protests and strikes across the country.

Alexey Poroshin, a protester at Wednesday's demonstrations, said the decentralised protests were effective and authorities were struggling to stop them.

"Decentralised protest is a force under these conditions...authorities don't know what to do, we turn up in different places, and it all comes from the heart, from the desire to live in a free and legitimate country", he said.