Belarusian President Oleksandr Lukashenko appeared in public on Tuesday and dismissed talk of a serious illness, telling officials: “I’m not going to die, guys,” according to a video released by state media, Reuters reported.

68-year-old Lukashenko is one of the closest associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rumors about his health spread after he appeared at a military parade in Moscow on May 9, looking tired and slightly unsteady on his feet.

• Lukashenka was allegedly taken to the hospital, writes the Belarusian press

Lukashenko hoarsely said at a health meeting that he had adenovirus, which is the common cold. The video from the meeting was broadcast by the state channel “Pul Pervovo”, which tells about the activities of Lukashenka.

“If anyone thinks I’m going to die, calm down,” Lukashenko said, adding that while it only took him three days to recover from such a virus, he was too busy to take a break immediately.

“I’m not going to die guys. From now on you will have to fight me for a very long time,” he said.

Lukashenko, accused of direct involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svitlana Tsykhanovskaya told her supporters on Monday to be ready to seize any chance to turn her country into a democracy. Also on Monday, she accused Lukashenka of personally ordering the illegal handover of Ukrainian orphans and suggested he may be guilty of war crimes.

Ukraine is investigating Belarus’ alleged role in the forced deportation of children from Russian-occupied territories, the prosecutor general told Reuters on Tuesday.

This statement was a response to a report by the Belarusian opposition in exile that 2,150 Ukrainian children, including orphans aged 6 to 15, were taken to so-called health camps and sanatoriums in Belarus.

Lukashenko, who first ruled Belarus with an iron fist in 1994, last year allowed Russian troops to use his country as a launching pad for an invasion of Ukraine.