Belarusian President Lukashenko's Health Sparks Rumors and Concerns.

Belarusian authorities released photographs and video of Alexander Lukashenko visiting an army control point, attempting to put an end to a week of speculation about the authoritarian leader’s health. Lukashenko's heavily bandaged arm and hoarse, exhausted voice appeared to confirm rumours that he has been in poor health. The opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told her supporters to be “well prepared for every scenario”. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 and his regime took an even more repressive turn after mass protests in 2020. Lukashenko and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, have often had a strained relationship, but the Belarusian leader has aided Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, allowing his country’s territory to be used as a base for launching attacks.