The Belarusian state news publishes the first photo of the sick dictator Lukashenko with a bandaged hand
Ailing Belarusian dictator Lukashenko struggles to speak and with bandaged arm meets with military leaders amid rumors the tyrant is seriously ill
- The Belarusian dictator was seen on video after posing for a photo this afternoon
- It comes because his office has declined to comment on mounting health concerns
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko struggled to speak in a video shared today amid rumors of his failing health.
Seeming hoarse and struggling to breathe, he rambled to military leaders about the shooting down of four fighter jets in Russia on Saturday, apparently unsure of how long his own forces had been on high alert.
He said, “The troops are on high combat alert for the fourth or third day.”
Lukashenko, whose disappearance from the public eye on May 9 sparked rumors of ill health, was seen this afternoon for the first time in nearly a week posing in a military uniform at what the Pul Pervovo Telegram channel says is a central air force command base.
The 68-year-old turned out to have a bandage or IV catheter on his left wrist.
His office has declined to comment on the mounting health concerns.
Alexander Lukashenko is first seen late afternoon on May 15, 2023 after rumors of his illness, surgery and even death, with a thick bandage on his left wrist
Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, 68, struggled to walk during Putin’s Red Square parade and flew back to Minsk early, missing a meal with the Russian dictator amid suspicions of serious back and knee problems .
During a visit to Moscow last Tuesday, a bandage was seen on his right wrist.
Rumors suggest he was rushed to hospital in Minsk after returning from Moscow, where he appeared at Vladimir Putin’s military parade on Red Square to mark Victory Day.
The autocrat appeared unable to walk a distance of less than a quarter of a mile in Red Square after the parade – and he begged Putin to give him a buggy over the cobblestones to lay flowers at the Time of the Unknown Soldier.
Lukashenko was said to be working today “at the central command point of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces.”
He was quoted as telling officers, ‘Let’s go without major reports. Let’s see what’s happening in our country.’
But he also said: “Three days after the events near us – I mean what happened in the Bryansk region [of Russia]when four planes were shot down.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (C) attends a Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2023
We are forced to respond. Since then we have been on high alert, our troops.’
Many believe Russian air defenses shot down their own planes in the Bryansk region, which borders both Belarus and Ukraine.
Multiple theories about Lukashenko had emerged, ranging from heart problems to a serious viral infection or even poisoning.
Putin’s former speechwriter, Abbas Gallyamov, said it was possible that the Kremlin leader’s secret services had tried to assassinate him because he was not sufficiently supportive of the war.
The Belarusian opposition-in-exile was preparing a plan in case of his death, leading enemy Pavel Latushka said.
BneIntellNews reported: “The Belarusian strongman is clearly seriously ill and some are asking if he is already dead.”
Still other sources had reported that he was ill and required surgery, but would recover.
He needed help from specialists from Moscow’s prestigious Bakulev Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, who flew to Minsk, one version said.
His office declined to comment until today’s single photo, escalating the rumours.
An unconfirmed story was that Lukashenko came through an “unpleasant” operation that had nothing to do with his heart and is stable.
The Belarusian expert, Russian pre-war academic Andrey Suzdaltsev, said: “Lukashenko endured the operation well. He’s not feeling bad…he’s recovering.”
The surgery ‘wasn’t on the heart. There was another annoying but common diagnosis.
If today’s photo is real, it showed no obvious sign of major surgery.