Did Viktor Lukashenko, the eldest son of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, escape to China on June 1, 2023? No, that's not true: he was seen in public in Belarus on June 3, 2023, two days after his alleged departure, as claimed on social media.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by news_ua_24_7 on June 1, 2023.
The text on the video, translated from Russian to English by Lead Stories staff, reads:
Lukashenko's son escaped to China. FSB flew to Minsk. It has started in Belarus.
The text suggests that the son of the Belarusian president may be in danger and mentions the involvement of the Federal Security Services (FSB), Russia's domestic security service and main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, which, among other things, oversees internal security and counterintelligence. There has been growing speculation over Alexander Lukashenko's health after he appeared visibly unwell on May, 9, 2023, spurring rumors on his conditions and possible scenarios explaining his abscence from the public space in recent times, fact-checked by Lead Stories also here.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Jun 6 07:11:19 2023 UTC)
Viktor Lukashenko, who is the current president of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, attended the opening ceremony of the sports and cultural festival "Vytoki" in the Belarusian town of Baranovichi on June, 3, 2023. He was, then, in Belarus after the date in which, according to posts on social media, he had supposedly fled to China. As explained on its official website, Origins ('Vytoki') aims to popularize Belarusian national culture, sport, history, customs, as well as support small towns in Belarus.
