Belarus quashed a mass protest against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko smashing a tent camp, arresting hundreds of opposition supporters and triggering an angry response from the West.
About 100 black-helmeted riot police swooped on October Square in central Minsk in the dead of night and herded protestors into green trucks with barred windows.
"The revolution is over," Colonel Yury Podobed, who headed the operation, was quoted by Moscow Echo radio as saying.
But top opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich, 58, vowed to continue his fight to have Lukashenko's landslide re-election victory, which the opposition claim was rigged, annulled.
US response
The United States denounced the crackdown on protesters in Belarus, demanding they be freed "without delay," and vowing to impose sanctions on officials in Minsk.
"We strongly condemn the actions by Belarusian security services in the early morning hours of March 24," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The spokesman said Washington would follow the European Union and impose "targeted travel restrictions and financial sanctions" that could target officials up to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
European reaction
Earlier European leaders at a summit in Brussels said they would impose sanctions on Belarus officials.
The EU condemned with one voice developments in the former Soviet state, a close ally of Russia, and demanded that the authorities respect the protestors' freedom to assemble.
Without spelling out the precise nature of the measures, the Austrian EU presidency said they would broaden restrictions beyond the six visa bans now in place on Belarus officials.
The summit "decided to take restrictive measures against those responsible for violations of international electoral standards, including President Lukashenko," said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
"We urge the Belarus authorities to respect the freedom of assembly and to release the prisoners," said Ms Plassnik.