Turmoil in Belarus as rumours of Lukashenko’s ill-health swirl

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told her supporters on Monday to be ready to grab any chance to turn her country into a democracy as speculation about the health of veteran president Alexander Lukashenko swirled.

Shortly after her message to supporters via Twitter, a Belarusian state news channel released a photo of Mr Lukashenko (68), at what it said was a military command centre in what would be his first public appearance in almost a week.

State TV later broadcast a clip of Mr Lukashenko at what it said was a central air force command base. It showed him sitting in a chair talking to officers. Dressed in a military uniform, he appeared to have a bandage on his left hand and to be short of breath at times.

Mr Lukashenko, who once said he was “the last and only dictator in Europe”, has ruled Belarus with an iron first since 1994, using his security forces to intimidate, beat and jail his opponents or force them to flee abroad.

A staunch ally of Russia, Mr Lukashenko before Monday had not been pictured in public since May 9th when he reviewed the annual military parade on Moscow’s Red Square as a guest of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Looking tired and a little unsteady, Mr Lukashenko was seen with a bandage on his right hand at the time. He skipped a lunch hosted by Mr Putin. He also swerved his traditional post-parade stroll and was driven a short distance to an event instead.

Speculation about his health intensified on Sunday when he missed a ceremony in Minsk amid unconfirmed media reports that he had been hospitalised. His place was taken by prime minister Roman Golovchenko.

Mr Lukashenko’s office has declined to comment on his absence.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband is in jail in Belarus and who herself fled for her own safety in 2020 as huge street protests broke out against Mr Lukashenko only to be eventually crushed, said on Monday the opposition had to be ready for any scenario.

“There are many rumours about the dictator Lukashenko’s health,” she tweeted to supporters. ”For us, it means only one thing: we should be well prepared for every scenario. To turn Belarus on the path to democracy and to prevent Russia from interfering. We need the international community to be proactive and fast.”

Mr Lukashenko has branded domestic opponents as Western-orchestrated subversives and traitors.

Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Mr Tsikhanouskaya, said on Sunday that the opposition was working on a joint action plan “with democratic forces” for “when something happens.” He gave no further details.

A long-standing ally of Moscow, Mr Lukashenko has become more dependent on Russia for energy and loans since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, when he allowed Russian forces to use his country as a launch pad for what Moscow called its “special military operation.”

Russia has troops garrisoned inside Belarus, the two countries’ security and military organisations are highly integrated, and Moscow has repeatedly told the West to stay out of Belarus, which it regards as firmly within its own formerly Soviet sphere of influence. - Reuters

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