Lukashenko is indeed ill, but not terminally ill, Ukrainian intelligence concludes

Belarus the dictator, whose health has been speculated about since May 9, is indeed ill, but his condition is not such as to “knock him out of the ranks for a long time,” confirmed Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

“Age, stress, harmful work. Yes, sick,” Yusova is quoted as saying by the “Liga” portal. Lukashenko’s illness is not too serious.

“I think that this is not the stage that will knock you out of the ranks for a long time. After all, the bets here should not be placed on health, but on much more complex geopolitical processes,” he explains.

Yusov estimates that the master of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, does not have an action plan for Lukashenko’s death: “I think it will be a crisis situation.”

Speculation about the health of 68-year-old Lukashenko began to spread on May 9, when the dictator appeared unwell and with a bandage on his right hand during a parade during Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. He also did not attend the lunch with Putin and the leaders of other CIS countries.

Then on May 14 Lukashenko did not attend the National Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem Day celebrationswhere in other years he gave a speech.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsihanouska said that when there are rumors about Lukashenko’s health, one should be prepared for any scenario.

On May 15, the dictator’s “Telegram” channel “Pul Pervogo” distributed a photo of the dictator for the first time since May 9, claiming that the leader visited the Air Force command post. In this photograph, the dictator’s left hand was bound. On the other hand, Lukashenko’s voice in the published video sounded unusually hoarse.

Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994, when he first won the presidential election. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which includes the use of Belarus’ territory and infrastructure, the question of how independent Lukashenko and Belarus are from Moscow has been pressing.