'We will perish': embattled Lukashenko sends SOS to Putin

Belarusian leader seeks Kremlin support against external threats as analysts predict an end to his rule

Isolated from the west and besieged by mass protests, the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has made repeated calls for Vladimir Putin to intervene and save his 26-year-old regime.

In telephone calls to the Kremlin on Saturday and Sunday, he sought confirmation that Russia would provide military assistance against external threats, while warning supporters that the country was under foreign pressure.