The wife of Belarusian politician Aliaksandr Milinkevich, Ina Kuley, said that after surgery and subsequent intensive care his condition is improving very slowly, but steadily. According to her, he can already speak in a whisper and responds to addressed speech.
She said that following surgery in November, Milinkevich developed hospital-acquired infections. Over the past month, he has stayed in an isolation ward and in an infectious diseases unit. Physiotherapists have been working with him to support his rehabilitation.
According to Kuley, her husband remains a bedridden patient.
“He is trying to sit up, but it is difficult to maintain this position, his muscles are weak. Everything moves except his left arm — it is sensitive, but for now almost immobile. It is possible to communicate with him — sometimes with words, sometimes with gestures, sometimes with his eyes. Aliaksandr listens to podcasts and interviews, we retell the news to him, show videos and photos. There are still many hospital-related challenges, but day by day, very slowly — even slowly — the recovery process is moving forward. Rehabilitation will be difficult and long-term, and we understand this,” she wrote on Facebook.
Kuley also said that the Free Belarusian University continues to operate at full capacity, with Milinkevich remaining its chancellor. By a notarized decision signed in the hospital, Belarusian scholar and Doctor of Philosophy Piotr Rudkouski was appointed academic director. The duties of head of the foundation have been assigned to Inna Kuley.
In 2026, the university will launch a new three-year project funded by Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education and will revise its strategic plan in light of recent sociological research in the field of Belarusian education, developing new areas and courses, Kuley said.
Milinkevich was the unified opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election. In 2023, he became an unpaid adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In November last year, he was admitted to intensive care following surgery.
