Belarusian President, after physical, says he is healthy

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(Reuters) -Veteran Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday that he had undergone the first physical of his life and was found to be in good health.

Questions have periodically been raised about Lukashenko’s health in the past few years

“Recently, for the first time in my life, I underwent a complete physical over two days,” Lukashenko, 70, told journalists on Belarusian television in comments posted on his Pul Pervogo Telegram channel.

“Goodness knows what they didn’t do to me. They even got into my brain. They x-rayed every bit of me … Touch wood, I am happy. Everything is normal.”

Doubts about his health intensified during a visit to Moscow in 2023 on the anniversary of the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during which he missed events, appeared unsteady and failed to make an address.

Lukashenko said even intelligence services from nations friendly to Belarus had inquired about his health.

“I am saying that I am ok with that,” he said. “Hand over the test results, those examinations and let them be published.”

In power since 1994, Lukashenko allowed Putin to use his country’s territory to launch the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but has said he will play no direct role in the conflict.

He has long been criticised by Western countries for a human rights record punctuated by the jailing of his opponents and actions to crush dissent. Most prominent opposition figures have fled the country.

Lukashenko withstood mass protests over his contested 2020 re-election after many demonstrators were handed jail terms.

(Reporting by Ronald Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler)