April 26, 1989. Demonstration in memory of victims of Chernobyl, Minsk. This demonstration was organised by the Belarussian Popular Front (an opposition party) and Belarussian intelligentsia. As a result of the disaster at the nuclear reactor Chernobyl, in The Ukraine, one third of the territory of Belarus was contaminated with radiation. The Belarussian government however concealed information about this danger, which made the demonstration an act of political resistance. After Belarus became independent in 1991, the Belarussian Popular Front assumed a role in the government.