Did the President of Belarus get hospitalized in Moscow after a meeting with Putin and now remains in critical condition? No, that's not true: Alexander Lukashenko visited Moscow for the Eurasian Economic Forum from May 24 to 25, 2023 and had a meeting with the Russian president, but the Belarusian leader did not require hospitalization.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted on the TikTok account @marinkamm1 on May 27, 2023. The Russian-language caption says (as translated by Lead Stories staff)::
After his meeting with Putin, Lukashenko felt ill,
and was urgently hospitalized.
Doctors assessed the Belarusian
dictator's condition as critical.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed May 31 16:08:40 2023 UTC)
Speculations about the well-being of the leader of Belarus have been circulating in various parts of the post-Soviet media landscape, including on TikTok (here, here, or here).
Lukashenko fueled rumors by not appearing in public for six days after May 9, Moscow's Victory Day parade, and missing a major state celebration. On May 15, the "Pul Pervogo" Telegram channel, close to Lukashenko's press service, published a photo and a video of Lukashenko in military uniform. On May 23, the president appeared in public, revealing that he was sick with adenovirus, a common cold virus. He added:
If anyone thinks I'm going to die, calm down. This is nothing more than idle speculation in messenger and Telegram channels.
On May 27, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Valery Tsepkalo, posted on his Telegram that after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was taken to Moscow Central Clinical Hospital in critical condition. Indeed, Alexander Lukashenko was in Moscow, where he spoke at the Eurasian Economic Forum on May 25. No official information on Belarusian President's health condition was reported. On May 30, in Minsk, Lukashenko reviewed personnel issues and made new appointments. Videos and communications were released by pro-Belarus state media resources.
