New Belarusian meme: what will Lukashenko say when I die?

President Lukashenko’s comment about a coronavirus patient who died in Vitebsk offended so many people that they began to wonder: what would the president say about them if they became coronavirus casualties?

Euroradio reports that this started a new meme on Facebook, where Belarusians come up with “Lukashenko-style” epitaphs about how coronavirus victims are responsible for their own deaths.

What did Lukashenko say?

During an informational meeting, journalists asked Lukashenko about the coronavirus situation in Belarus.

It became clear that the president was unhappy with the fact that the media had created a commotion because of the four coronavirus deaths.

And then Lukashenko unexpectedly spoke about one of the victims of COVID-19:

“I asked [the official] about the latest casualty. And he said: ‘How could she have survived? She weighed 135 kg!’ At this weight, the heart barely works, there are constant aches and pains, and a whole bunch of diseases.  The virus attacks the weak who have no immunity.”

Response on social media

It turns out that those who die from coronavirus only have themselves to blame, and “how can you survive” at a weight of 135 kg?

Lukashenko’s statement caused outrage. People noted that Belarusian officials could consider any deviation from the norm to be a “weakness” that would make them more susceptible to coronavirus.

And people began to get creative, considering what Lukashenko might say in the case of their own death and posting it with the hashtag #прашчальнаесловапрэзидзента (#farewellfromthepresident)

“And she did whatever she wanted — she traveled to all sorts of exotic countries, so who knows what diseases she could have picked up,” writes Zheni Mantsevich, imagining what President Lukashenko might say in the event of her death.

“What did she think was going to happen? 56 kilograms, immunity in the gutter, and she writes poetry! After all, as they say, ‘Don’t strain your brain too much or it will dry out’ – that’s the real reason,” writes poet Kristina Bandurina in her own Lukashenko eulogy.

And journalist Ales Piletsky writes his own version:

“Oh, they were really reaching with this one. 36 years old, broke, no wife. He spent all his life writing slander. He was stuck on a train across Russia with a bunch of other mouth-breathers for three whole days. Of course he got infected.”

Son of deceased coronavirus victim complains to police about Lukashenko

Son of the deceased Alexander Matveev went to the police with his request to open criminal proceedings against President Lukashenko, for not fulfilling his obligation to protect the population from the coronavirus pandemic.

Alexander himself lives in France and could not come to see his mother because of border closings.

68-year-old Lidia Matveeva lay in the neurology department in the Vitebsk Regional Clinic for several weeks. Her son says that her diagnoses was changed three different times during her stay. She was only officially reported as a coronavirus victim after her death.

“The scary thing is that the public is not getting any information, the names of the victims are not officially published, and everything is hidden. People should know what is happening in our country. We need to quarantine in order to protect the doctors,” says Alexander Matveev.

Statistics from April 6 show that 13 people who were diagnosed with coronavirus have died in Belarus. The total number of reported COVID-19 cases in the country is 700.