Media in neighboring Ukraine report that Lukashenko was taken to a hospital.
(Photo: IMAGO/SNA)
Minsk, Moscow After days of speculation about the state of health of the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, a member of the Duma has commented on his possible illness. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary, no Covid. Man is simply ill,” Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin told the Podjom Internet portal on Sunday evening.
Most recently, Lukashenko appeared in public at the celebrations on May 9th to mark the anniversary of the Red Army’s victory over Hitler’s Germany. Even in Moscow he looked shattered and left the celebrations earlier.
Zatulin, who is deputy head of the Committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs in the Russian parliament, did not want to reveal what the 68-year-old was ill with. “He probably needs a little rest, that’s all,” he said.
At the weekend in the ex-Soviet republic, Lukashenko was represented by Prime Minister Roman Golovtschenko at the pompous ceremony marking State Flag Day – for the first time in 29 years.
This fueled speculation about Lukashenko’s health. Officially, there is still no information from Minsk about a possible illness of the head of state. Against this backdrop, Belarusian ex-Culture Minister Pavel Latuschko, who fled into exile, declared on Friday that Lukashenko “is obviously very seriously ill.”
support for Putin
The opposition politician Pavel Latuschko, who lives in exile in the EU and was once a member of the government in Minsk as culture minister, said on Friday that Lukashenko “is obviously very seriously ill”.
Belarus is more than ever economically and financially dependent on Russia.
(Photo: IMAGO/ITAR-TASS)
Nothing is left of the former image of the strong leader. In 2020, Lukashenko declared himself the winner again in a controversial presidential election and had protests against the vote put down.
“He can’t even walk a few hundred meters, can’t give speeches, can’t even stand up straight in the stands, swaying with weakness,” said Latuschko. State television is helpless and no longer knows what to say or show.
As an authoritarian ruler, Lukashenko is the central linchpin of political life in Belarus (Belarus). He owed his remaining in office in 2020 primarily to the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since then, Belarus has been more than ever economically and financially dependent on Russia. Minsk is also supporting Moscow in the war in Ukraine, allowing Belarusian territory to be used by Russian forces to attack the neighboring country.
More: Follow all current developments in the Ukraine war in the Newsblog