Belarusian Partisan, I assume, was wrong hastening to inform that Lukashenka would visit Moscow on March 3. Some Russian websites reprinted the info, but Putin-Lukashenka tete-a-tete meeting looks less and less probable, as the Belarus’ re-elected leader hasn’t yet re-appeared to the public, like the Phoenix from its ashes. We haven’t seen Lukashenka for 13 days and counting. His site’s news section hasn’t been updated since last month, if not to consider vague reports of him being still alive. So today, according to the official website, the president congratulated the peoples of Belarus and Russia with the Day of their unification, which should’ve been celebratory. However, how should the nations celebrate the event without the process’s adamant inspirer? A political scientist and a blogger hiding under a soubriquet of Deeplake analyzed the text of the president’s congratulation and suggested that it was not his.

Farmost, stately Lukashenka personally edits his speeches and never contents himself with five short general paragraph, lacking any intelligible theses. The text was written by a person who is clearly out of the line; i.e. the task was clearly “descended” to lower levels of the Interior Ministry.

I don’t know whom to believe on this highly amusing situation, as there are all sorts of speculations, but clearly Lukashenka is having some serious health issues, unless he is dead. With each day of his absence, it is becoming harder and harder for state-run media to ignore the public curiosity.

Picture by (c) 2003-2005 Strangetown.