The video of the session was published by the government channel Pul Pervogo. The Belarusian scientist, who sounded hoarse, later said that he had contracted an adenovirus, that is, the common cold.

Eighteen-year-old Lukaenko adds that while recovery from such illnesses usually only lasts those days, he is busier and unable to take time off right away. I didn’t have a chance to blame myself… I wasn’t going to die like that, guys. You will suffer with me for a long time, he added.

There has been speculation about the deteriorating health of the authoritarian leader of Eastern European countries since May 9, when he appeared on a military patrol in Moscow to commemorate the Soviet Union’s invasion of Nazi Germany. He looked tired, didn’t show up until the end of the celebration, to the point of being absent from a number of public events in his homeland.

Lukaenko has been in power since 1994. According to official results, the last time he won the election was in 2020. But the opposition and the crumbling country consider these ballot boxes rigged, in fact, according to them, the opposition candidate Sviatlana Cichanousk won. . Dissatisfaction with the election led to demonstrations in the country of small dimensions. Security forces brutally suppressed the protests, arresting tens of thousands of people and beating thousands of them.

The Belarusian scientist is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, to whom Belarus provided land and air for Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.