Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has not appeared in public for five days – since May 9, when he visited a parade in Moscow. On Sunday, he did not come to the celebrations in Minsk dedicated to the Day of the State Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem of Belarus. The Prime Minister of Belarus, Roman Golovchenko, read a greeting on his behalf.
Rumors about Lukashenko’s illness continue to be discussed in Belarusian independent m media and social networks. The Belarusian leader looked unwell in Moscow, could not walk a few hundred meters from Lenin’s mausoleum to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and was absent from the breakfast with Vladimir Putin and other CIS leaders. In the evening of May 9, Lukashenko laid a wreath in Minsk, but did not perform – although he usually did this on Victory Day. Since then, he has not appeared in public, no events with his personal participation have been held. The publication “Zerkalo” calls it “very strange”. At the same time, Lukashenko’s press service and officials remain silent.
On May 13, several m media reported that Lukashenko’s cortege arrived at the Republican Clinical Medical Center in the evening. After some time, the cortege left the center.
The Day of the State Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem is celebrated this year for the first time. Exactly 28 years ago, on May 14, 1995, a referendum was held in Belarus on the initiative of Lukashenko, who was already the president at that time, at which instead of the national symbols — the white-red-white flag and the coat of arms “The Pursuit” — the modern state symbols, created based on the symbols of the former BSSR.