It is obvious that Putin does not like Lukashenko - political strategist Holobutsky

He said this on Espreso TV.

"We don't know what is happening to Lukashenko, who seemed to be more physically fit than Putin, because he played hockey and ran in the fields. And now, for several days now, we don't know what's wrong with him - maybe he's dying or already dead. However, there are several versions, and one of them is that Lukashenko is imitating an illness to get rid of unpleasant conversations with Putin about Belarus' participation in the war. But in any case, Belarus is also a personalist dictatorship built on Lukashenko's power and authority. Unlike Putin, Lukashenko has lost the legitimacy of power by going for a very bold experiment - elections in 2020," the political strategist said.

Oleksiy Holobutsky added that the situation in Belarus is very uncertain, so there may be different options for its further development: perhaps with Lukashenko's death, internal strife will begin, which will somehow destabilise Belarus and lead to serious changes in the country, or perhaps Belarus will be completely dependent on Russia in all aspects.

"It is difficult to understand the personal relationship between Putin and Lukashenko, which is not typical of a suzerain-vassal relationship. If Putin wanted, the Belarusian economy could come to a standstill in a month. It is obvious that Putin does not like Lukashenko, which is evident in their meetings. Putin would like to have an ally who would "take everything under his wing" and do everything. Therefore, it is possible that there is a Russian trace in this story. As you know, Putin is a legist (from the Latin lex, legis - law; lawyer, jurist), opposed to changing the government by any violent means, but when the country's leader dies of an illness, this is part of his concept. Perhaps the entire elite around Lukashenko has already been bought and recruited by the Russians, and now they are just waiting for him to leave to appoint some six people from his entourage. And with such a nominal head of state, they want to make the country a more developed version of the LDPR or South Ossetia, dependent on Russia," Holobutsky said.

• After the parade in Moscow on May 9, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko disappeared from the public space. Belarusian media and political analysts are monitoring the situation.

• On May 13, the media wrote that Lukasheno had not been seen in public for 4 days and had spent 2 hours in the hospital today.

• On May 14, Russia confirmed that Lukashenko has health problems.