[man speaking foreign language over loudspeaker] eric: svetlana tikhanovskaya became the main oppositionfter her activist husband was jailed. [crowd cheering] svetlana: my first step was made only for my husband because he was in jail. he couldn't participate himself. but what he was doing for people was very important for him, so i just decided to support him somehow and gave my documents instead of him. eric: her campaign captured the public's imagination, rather more than lukashenko's insistence that women belonged in the kitchen. he even suggested there'd be no point debating her. eric: knowing how ruthless he could be, tikhanovskaya sent her young children across the border to the lithuanian capital vilnius, but as election day approached it seemed victory was hers. eric: did you ever expect to win? did you expect to get so much support? svetlana: i'm representative of several candidates. i'm, like, not as svetlana tikhanovskaya. i'm a person who is opposite to lukashenko, and all those people who would vote separately for different candidates, they voted for me as for united candid