‘They shot at me’: Embattled Belarus leader Lukashenko recalls assassination attempt and rules out handing over power to son

President Alexander Lukashenko recounted being shot at during his first election, and set out plans for his eventual departure amid worsening protests in Belarus, sparked by the death of an opposition activist.

The long-time leader told journalists on Friday that he will eventually stand down in favor of a democratically elected successor. “Whomever the people elect – so it will be. I swore. I promised that it will be as the Belarusian people decide,” Lukashenko said. There had been suggestions that he was looking to groom his youngest son, 16-year old Nikolai, who he has frequently dressed in miniature military uniforms and taken along on state business, as his replacement.

Belarus has been paralyzed by daily protests since Lukashenko claimed victory with 80 percent of the vote in the presidential election in August. Opposition groups and international observers have declared that the vote was rigged for the incumbent, who has led the country since 1994.

In an interview broadcast on Belarus’ ONT news channel on Friday, he claimed that the unrest was likely to drag on into next year. The president asked, “when will [the protesters] finish their marches? The thing they desire the most is to endure, and still be here in spring.” 

He warned that continued disruption would have a significant impact on Belarus’ finances, quoting a statement from the opposition that by spring, “the economy will be in a more difficult situation – the economy will collapse, then it will be easier to deal with [Lukashenko].”

The president added that, of the protesters, “one and a half thousand are militants, not radicals… they will never give up, this is their chance. It isn’t a problem to pay one and a half thousand people.” It is unclear who he alleges is paying the activists.

The leader also contrasted the recent unrest, which has paralyzed the country for close to three months, to an attempt on his life made during the election in 1994, the first he ran in and won. On Saturday, he asked journalists, “do you even know that I was shot at in the first elections? But I didn’t whine about it. And I did not walk around telling everyone. When I became President, they brought me evidence and said I needed to investigate. But I said put it down in the KGB archives. I didn’t even bother to investigate these cases.” 

Lukashenko compared this story with the current state of affairs in Belarus, noting the number of opposition figures who have left for neighboring Poland and Lithuania. He accused them of conspiring with foreign governments, saying “you can’t build happiness for the Belarusian people on NATO bayonets in Belarus.” 

Thousands of people have taken to the streets this week after an opposition activist, named as 31-year old Roman Bondarenko, was reportedly beaten into a coma by police, who came to remove a white and red flag, a symbol of the protests, from the courtyard of the building where he lived. He later died in hospital.

On Friday, Lukashenko sent his condolences to Bondarenko’s family, and ordered an investigation into the incident. “This problem will be escalated,” the president said in an interview with foreign journalists, “therefore, it is necessary to investigate, it is necessary to honestly and objectively investigate everything.”

Protest groups claim that such abuses are widespread. On Saturday, opposition figurehead Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, announced that she is setting up a “People’s Tribunal,” and said Lukashenko’s government is a “a terrorist organisation that must account for its crimes.”

Tikhanovskaya, his main challenger, claimed victory in the August election but fled to neighboring Lithuania after the results had been declared in favor of the sitting president.

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