Speculations about Lukashenko’s health are rising – including gross theories Man attacked US parliamentary office employees with a baseball bat

Alexander Lukashenko has worked for decades to appear strong, scary and unbreakable. But the Belarusian ruler can no longer maintain this image. The president of the post-Soviet state is weakening. In recent days he had even disappeared from the scene completely – but now he has resurfaced.

And that is exactly what creates crude discussions and theories that are spread on social media such as Twitter.

But let’s start at the beginning: Alexander Lukashenko was a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on May 9 for the celebration of “Victory Day”. A bandage on his right hand is already visible on images of this celebration.

The fact that Lukashenko left the event early and did not appear at a breakfast that Putin had invited caused a stir. The Belarusian president had previously had tea with Putin.

Theories about whether Putin wants to get rid of Lukashenko and may have mixed poison in his tea circulated.

There were also rumors that Lukashenko was staying in a hospital near the Belarusian capital Minsk after his stay in Moscow – these rumors were never confirmed by the Belarusian government.

The Belarusian government is silent about Lukashenko’s condition

Overall, state authorities had not commented on the president’s current state of health. One thing was certain: Lukashenko initially did not appear anywhere.

He even missed an annual ceremony in Minsk to celebrate allegiance to the flag of the former Soviet state. For the first time in 29 years, Lukashenko did not participate. However, his prime minister Roman Golovchenko read a message in Lukashenko’s name. Russian politician Konstantin Zatulin also tried to stop rumors about the president’s health.

On the Telegram channel Podyom, Zatulin wrote:

On Monday, a video surfaced in which Lukashenko spoke about the war in Ukraine and attacks on Russian territory. Striking here: the president looks extremely weak. His voice is hoarse and cracked, his face looks thin and pale. The bandage he wore on his right hand a week ago is now on his left.

Hardly comparable to Lukashenko, who was a guest at the Russian military parade a week earlier.

Lukashenko disappeared from public view for a week. People even wondered if he might be dead. But even after the video was released, all doubts were not allayed. “So the video shows he’s not quite dead yet,” one Twitter user wrote.

Lukashenko’s absence: fear of disaster or long-awaited opportunity

Another user posted a GIF below the message featuring the dead Bernie Lomax from the 1980s movie Always Trouble with Bernie. This was prepared (better bad than good) to appear alive.

Even if some opponents of Lukashenko ridicule his actions, the president’s state of health could lead to a great opportunity or a great disaster.

The opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile, drew attention to this. On Twitter she writes:

To do this, continues Tsikhanouskaya, one needs the support of the international community.

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994. He won the first presidential election since the collapse of the Soviet Union and has maintained his grip on the country despite massive anti-government protests that followed a disputed presidential election in 2020.