Poisoning? Belarus president rushed to hospital after meeting with Vladimir Putin

Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko was “urgently” taken to a hospital in Moscow and is now in critical condition after meeting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Belarus’s opposition leader Valery Tsepkalo informed. Lukashenko, 68, has been one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies amid Russia’s Ukraine.

“According to preliminary information, subject to further confirmation, Lukashenko was urgently transported to Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital after his closed-door meeting with Putin. Currently, he remains under medical care there,” Valery Tsepkalo shared on Twitter.

The Belarus president remains under the care of leading specialists to “address his critical condition” and blood purification procedures have been conducted, he added.

Lukashenko’s condition has been deemed “non-transportable”, he further informed.

“The orchestrated efforts to save the Belarusian dictator are aimed to dispel speculations regarding Kremlin’s alleged involvement in his poisoning,” Valery Tsepkalo said.

Rumours around Lukashenko’s health have been doing the rounds for some time now. Earlier this month, the Belarus president left Russia soon after the Victory Day parade in Moscow as he skipped lunch with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko looked visibly tired and that his right hand was in a bandage, several media reports claimed.

He later dismissed the rumours saying, “I’m not going to die, guys. You’ll have to struggle with me for a very long time to come.”

According to media reports, Lukashenko also said that during a meeting in early May that he had been suffering from an adenovirus, a common cold virus.

“If someone thinks I am going to die, calm down,” he had said, adding that he only took three days to recover.