Belarus President poisoned? Lukashenko rushed to hospital after a closed-door meeting with Putin, remains ‘critical’

After meeting Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has been taken to hospital in Moscow and is in critical condition, informed Belarus's opposition leader Valery Tsepkalo.

In a Tweet, Valery Tsepkalo shared, "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.”

Adding further, he said that the Belarus president remains under the care of leading specialists to "address his critical condition” and blood purification procedures have been conducted, he added.

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Lukashenko's condition has been deemed “non-transportable”, he said.

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

Lukashenko's health has been the subject of persistent rumours for some time now. 

Lukashenko, a Putin ally who has backed the Russian president's invasion of Ukraine, attended Moscow's festivities on May 9. He left the party early and was later observed having struggled to speak and wearing a bandage on his arm, which fueled concerns for his health.

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."

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

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

The Belarusian government has kept silence despite rumours regarding the president's health and has not yet made an official announcement regarding the nature of his ailment. This has fueled speculation that Russian intelligence services may have poisoned Lukashenko.