BELARUS’S opposition challenger for the presidency Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has taken refuge in Lithuania, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said today.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya rejects the result of Sunday’s vote, which election officials said put her on 10 per cent and gave incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko 80 per cent. 

Minsk authorities have confirmed that one person has been killed in clashes that erupted between her supporters and riot police following the announcement of the results. Interior Ministry spokesman Alexander Lastovsky said the victim was a protester who was about to throw an explosive device that blew up in his hand, killing him.

The ministry added that 89 people were injured in Sunday and Monday’s clashes, 39 of them police officers, and that 3,000 people have been arrested.

Mr Lukashenko has blamed Poland and the Czech Republic for stirring up unrest, adding that “some groups” in Russia and Ukraine might also be involved. Russia cut supplies of cheap oil to Belarus this year and reacted angrily when Belarusian authorities arrested 33 Russian private military contractors last week, accusing them of planning “mass riots.” However, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Mr Lukashenko on his victory.