Who is Alexander Lukashenko’s son Nikolai? Mom may have been Belarusian Prez’s personal doc
The President of Belarus is in the news these days. As the Russia-Ukraine crisis is worsening, the leader of the landlocked country in Eastern Europe, Alexander Lukashenko, has shown its support towards Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion while asking Ukraine to not defend itself and leave the hands of American “masters.”
During a speech to Belarus's top military officials, he said, “Stop! Shoo away these masters from over the ocean. They won't bring you any happiness. As soon as they can't use you any more, they will dump you at the junkyard of history.” Besides this, the authoritarian leader also held a constitutional referendum on Sunday, February 27, to secure his over two-decades-old grip on power while offering his nation’s region to Russia to attack Ukraine.
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The recent developments have not only raised people’s interest in Alexander but also in his family, especially in his youngest son, Nikolai “Kolya” Lukashenko, who is reported to be his successor in the future.
Who is Alexander Lukashenko’s son and possible successor?
Alexander is the father of two grown-up sons, Viktor Lukashenko, 46, and Dmitry Lukashenko, 42, and a teenage son named Nikolai Lukashenko. Viktor’s and Dmitry’s mothers are the same, it has been said that Nikolai’s mother is different. The first two sons were born to Galina Lukashenko, who is also the President’s wife.
But there are reports that claim that Nikolai is Alexander’s illegitimate child and his mother is Irina Abelskaya. It has been said that earlier she was the personal doctor of Alexander and now she has been given the designation of chief doctor at the Republican clinical medical center office of the President.
For years, speculations have been made that Nikolai is the possible successor of the 67-year-old, who has ruled the country since 1994. According to a 2011 report, which quoted political analyst Uladzimer Padhol, Alexander had “distanced himself from everyone because he's afraid of everyone. He doesn't trust anyone. Even his older sons he sees as rivals who could be planning his removal from power” but he calls Kolya “a kind of psychological compensation for his loneliness.”
Padhol had added at the time: “Because he loves him, he trusts him. They love and trust each other. His son is the only person he can trust, because he's small and doesn't present any kind of threat.”
Also in 2015, Alexander raised eyebrows when Nikolai as an 11-year-old came along with him to the UN General Assembly in New York. At the time, he was even snapped with then-US President Barack and Michelle Obama at a reception for the summit. The same year, he also joined his father for a visit to Beijing for China's World War Two commemorations, where he watched Beijing’s massive military parade alongside Putin. He was also photographed with prominent leaders, like China's President Xi Jinping.
More recently, the young man reportedly attended a meeting alongside his father with the Chinese leader during the Second Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People in April 2019, in Beijing, China.
However, Alexander has never directly admitted that Nikolai is his successor. In a 2012 interview with BBC, he instead said that his youngest son joins him in official meetings because he "was so attached to his father that he will not go to sleep without him, not because, as has been claimed, he is being groomed for succession."