He has used police to put down protests with the backing of Vladimir Putin and last year he allowed his country's territory to be used as part of Russia's investigation of Ukraine.ĭuring his tenure courts have closed dissident media outlets and imposed long jail terms on opponents, and activists fled the country en masse.Ī former NATO commander has questioned the speed at which Western countries have armed Ukraine - and said the war could drag on for years as a result.įormer deputy Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Sir Richard Shirreff, told Sky News: 'If you can imagine if Britain and other Western European countries, and America, had given Ukraine the tools to do the job a year ago, we probably wouldn't be here now. Mr Lukashenko, 68, has led Belarus since 1994. Opposition news outlet Euroradio said Mr Lukashenko was taken to an elite clinic in Minsk on Saturday.īut Russian online publication Podyom quoted a senior member of the Duma lower house of parliament, Konstantin Zatulin, saying Mr Lukashenko 'has simply fallen ill. He also did not speak at an event in Minsk marking the anniversary for the first time in his long presidency. It did not give a reason for Mr Lukashenko's absence, which came five days after he appeared unwell and skipped parts of Moscow's Victory Day celebrations marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko read a message from Mr Lukashenko during the annual ceremony at which young people swear allegiance to the former Soviet state's flag, the BelTA state news agency reported. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has not been seen in public since Tuesday and did not appear at a ceremony in the capital Minsk on Sunday, triggering speculation he is seriously ill.

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