Until recently, his name was only uttered in stories about world leaders’ most madcap responses to the coronavirus. As the world locked down, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko told his people to protect themselves from the virus with vodka and saunas.
Only in Belarus did sporting events carry on, and when the rest of Europe cancelled VE Day celebrations, he crammed thousands together for a military parade in capital Minsk, with no masks or social distancing. “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees,” was Lukashenko’s mantra.
But “Europe’s last dictator” himself is now on his knees, politically speaking. Frustration over his handling of the pandemic and obviously rigging an election earlier this month have fuelled the