A video of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week showed him to be heavily overweight, sparking speculation that he is ill again, the footage released on July 25 revealed.

Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Lukashenko was greeted by Governor Alexander Beglov and walked with difficulty, clearly short of breath. According to the Belarusian state-run news agency Belta, discussions between Lukashenko and Putin were expected to focus on "the development of bilateral relations, promoting allied projects, regional security issues and the international agenda."

The Kremlin confirmed that Putin and Lukashenko met at Valaam Monastery in Russia's Karelia region, a site they previously visited in July 2019 and July 2023. The video released by the Kremlin depicted Putin in conversation with priests before Lukashenko's arrival. The Russian Defence Ministry-affiliated broadcaster Zvezda reported that the leaders visited a church where prayers are offered for Russian soldiers.

The 69-year-old Lukashenko has suffered several bouts of ill health in recent years. He was rushed straight from Red Square back to Minsk during a visit to Moscow for Russia’s annual Victory Day parade last year after being struck down by a mystery illness. He was later reported to have been suffering from a virus. He subsequently appeared on stare TV during the coronavirus pandemic with a bandage visibly protruding from his jacket sleeve.

This is not the first time that Lukashenko has been visibly ill with an unknown, but apparently serious, condition. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 he appeared on TV with what appeared to be an IV catheter bandage on his wrist, as shown by images captured by the opposition Telegram channel Nexta.

Batka (as he is known) is usually active and regularly appears on state TV picking watermelons or harvesting carrots, often accompanied by his son or celebrities like Stephen Segal. Last month state TV showed Lukashenko vigorously chopping wood without the weight gain.

Sanctions on Belarus

Lukashenko’s latest visit comes after the Belarusian strongman launched what analysts say are attempts at reducing tensions with the West. Lukashenko recently eased the visa requirements on Europeans travelling to Belarus, issuing 90-day entry visa on arrival for citizens from 35 European countries. However, Brussels has ignored the olive branch.

In recent weeks Lukashenko has also released five political prisoners and announced a withdrawal of additional troops from the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. These gestures are seen as efforts to soften Belarus' international stance.

However, Minsk also announced this month that a German national Rico Krieger has been sentenced to death on terrorism charges, the first time a foreign national has been condemned to death. Analysts speculate the sentence is connected to the Kremlin’s efforts to swap the prisoners its holds, including US born journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was recently sentenced to 16 years in jail for espionage, for the Berlin assassin Vadim Krasikov, who is currently serving a life sentence in a German jail.

Belarusian authorities released a video of a despondent and handcuffed Krieger confessing to his “crimes” over the weekend, saying it “was the worst mistake of my life.” 

Such videos are common in Belarus, where prisoners are coerced into public confessions for the sake of propaganda. Jailed top Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich appeared in a similar interview on state TV in 2021, where he praised Lukashenko for having “balls of steel”, but the video also showed bruises on his wrists likely from being hung up by handcuffs, a common Soviet-era torture.

The EU tightened the sanctions regime on Belarus at the start of July to try to minimise sanctions circumvention for goods sent to Minsk that end up in Moscow. Belarus has become a major staging post for the imports of luxury Western cars headed to Moscow, for example. The EU has banned the transit through Belarus of dual-use goods and technologies in particular.