Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has not been seen in public since Tuesday, did not attend at a ceremony in Minsk on Sunday, sparking concerns that the veteran leader is critically sick.
According to the BelTA state news agency, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko presented a message from Lukashenko during an annual event in which young people pledge loyalty to the ex-Soviet state’s flag.
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The agency provided no explanation for Lukashenko’s absence five days after he seemed ill and skipped sections of Moscow’s commemorations celebrating the Soviet Union’s World War II triumph over Germany.
For the first time in his long rule, Lukashenko did not speak at an event commemorating the occasion in Minsk. He was last seen in public during the occasion.
The Lukashenko administration has declined to react.
According to the opposition news site Euroradio, Lukashenko was transferred on Saturday to an exclusive Minsk facility.
According to Podyom, a Russian online website, a prominent member of the Duma lower house of parliament, Konstantin Zatulin, “(Lukashenko) has simply fallen ill… and probably needs a rest.”
The Russian newspaper Kommersant also reported on Lukashenko’s health, citing Zatulin and Belarusian opposition media. Russian media rarely publishes reports regarding the health of Russia’s or its allies’ leaders.
Lukashenko, 68, has led Belarus since 1994, deploying police to quell rallies, while courts banned dissident media outlets and sentenced opponents to long prison sentences, and activists fled the nation in droves.
Lukashenko gained support from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in suppressing protesters, and he permitted his country’s territory to be utilized in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The invasion is described as a “special operation” by Russia.
Belarus’ foreign minister, Sergei Aleinik, is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Monday, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.
Reporting by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly
Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Gerry Doyle
