Lukashenko is seriously ill, ‘Dojd’ reports details

The health condition of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has deteriorated during his recent visit to the SCO summit, reports ‘Dojd’, citing informed sources. This information has been conveyed by The Moscow Times.

It occurred on July 3, just 1.5-2 hours after his arrival in Astana. The report notes that the next day, while speaking at the summit, he appeared pale and spoke with uncertainty.

It has been reported that Lukashenko’s health had worsened before, and rumors about his poor health have been circulating for some time. In 2023, during the Victory Day parade in Moscow, he had difficulty moving and was brought to the eternal flame by an electric vehicle.

Immediately after the parade, Lukashenko returned to Minsk, and during the festivities, it was not him who made a public speech but rather the Minister of Defense of Belarus.

This past January, Lukashenko declined to play hockey, citing a knee injury sustained while chopping wood, the publication reminds us.

According to one of the sources who spoke to ‘Dojd’, Lukashenko is seriously ill, though the specific details remain unknown as this information is kept strictly confidential. Belarusian political analyst Valery Karabalyevich also states that Lukashenko’s health is a state secret.

Under Belarus's new Constitution, if something were to happen to Lukashenko, power would pass to the President of the upper house of Parliament, Natalia Kochanova, who would be responsible for conducting new presidential elections.

‘Dojd’ indicates that Lukashenko's potential successors are his eldest son, Viktor, and his younger son, Nikolai, who, according to well-informed sources, “cannot stand each other.” Passing power by inheritance will not be easy; the younger son does not wish to assume the presidency, while the elder has been embarrassed after opposing his father's crackdown on protests in 2020, and now Lukashenko does not see him as a successor, the publication notes.

At the same time, political analyst Artem Shrayben believes that the Belarusian president does not plan to leave his post voluntarily. According to him, Lukashenko intends to participate in the elections to be held next year.