YEAR IN REVIEW - Tale of 3 Protests: Ex-Soviet Republics Swept by Unrest With Mixed Outcome Wed 23rd December 2020 | 12:10 PM MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2020) From the rapid change of power by mobs and the storming of the presidential palace in Kyrgyzstan to the mass rallies against the government called for by the president-elect in Moldova and months-long nationwide protests in Belarus in defiance of the president - the post-Soviet space has become one simmering hotbed of unrest this year. Mass protests in Belarus started after the presidential election on August 9, which, according to the official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been governing the country since 1994, won by a landslide, securing a sixth consecutive term in office. Lukashenko's main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a political novice who decided to run only after her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger, was jailed in May, rejected the results and called for a recount of the vote with the participation of independent observers.