Aleksandr Lukashenko struggled during a visit to Moscow last week, when he skipped a luncheon hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, leading to unconfirmed reports that the Belarusian leader was hospitalized, before leaving disappeared from public view.
The unexplained absences and public silence were deeply out of character for a president who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for nearly three decades and rarely missed an opportunity to speak publicly.
Lukashenko, 68, missed Sunday’s annual ceremony in Minsk, which celebrates allegiance to the flag of the former Soviet Union. Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko read a congratulatory message on behalf of the President.
Lukashenko last week cut short his participation in Moscow’s Victory Day event marking the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II, during which Putin vowed to continue the conflict in Ukraine. Lukashenko laid a wreath later in the day but stood silently in the background during Victory Day celebrations in his hometown of Minsk.
Konstantin Zaturin, a senior Russian lawmaker and deputy chairman of the former Soviet Union committee of the lower house of parliament, told Russian media on Sunday that Lukashenko was unwell.
“There’s nothing supernatural there, it’s not Covid. The man just got sick,” Zatulin said, according to Podyom, a channel on the social media app Telegram. “But even though the man was sick, he still considered it a duty to come to Moscow and then have an event in Minsk later in the day. He might just need a break — that’s all. “
Lukashenko was taken to a hospital near the Belarusian capital on Saturday night, according to Europadio and other independent Belarusian news outlets that did not cite sources. The news has not been confirmed by the country’s official media.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters to “take your cues from official sources,” but did not comment directly on Lukashenko’s health. “There is no such official statement from Minsk.”
Lukashenko has led Belarus since 1994, when he won the country’s first presidential election after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He has maintained control of the country despite massive anti-government protests following a disputed 2020 presidential election.
Authorities have responded with a crackdown during which several opposition leaders who denounced the polls as false have fled Belarus to avoid arrest, including replacing their detained husband Sergei Tikhanovsky as an electoral candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In 2021, Tikhanovsky was sentenced to 18 years in prison for inciting “mass riots”.
Despite their long-running and sometimes volatile relationship, Lukashenko has been a staunch ally of Putin since the Russian president backed Putin’s crackdown on protests. He has since proposed using Belarus as a base for Russian military strikes against Ukraine and allowing Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons there later this year.