Opposition urges more Belarusians to back strike in face of "colossal pressure"

FILE PHOTO: Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya participates in a solidarity march organized by Friends of Belarus in Copenhagen, Denmark October 23, 2020. Emil Helms/ Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appealed to Belarusians on Tuesday to throw their support behind a national strike to oust President Alexander Lukashenko, but the government insisted that companies were working as normal.

On the second day of the strike she has said will paralyse the country, Tsikhanouskaya said employees at a string of major companies were refusing to work their shifts but coming under "colossal pressure" from the authorities.