Belarus leader Lukashenko avoids stroll, skips lunch after Moscow parade

(Reuters) -Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had to be driven a short distance to an event during Tuesday's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and skipped a lunch hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, looked tired and a little unsteady on his feet, and a bandage was visible on his right hand. His appearance sparked speculation online about his health, though he otherwise showed no obvious sign of being unwell.

Video footage showed the 68-year-old chatting with Putin and army top brass after the annual parade on Red Square and then taking a lift to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier nearby while Putin walked there with the leaders of Armenia and five Central Asian countries.

He rejoined the others to lay flowers at the Tomb beside the Kremlin, only about 300 metres from the spot where they had earlier watched the parade marking the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

In a rare departure from custom, the Belarusian president then missed the state lunch hosted by Putin in the Kremlin and attended by the other leaders.

Belarusian authorities have issued no statements on Lukashenko's health, but he has appeared at few public events in the past two weeks and at one of them his voice was hoarse.

Lukashenko later on Tuesday resurfaced for the Victory Day wreath-laying ceremony in Minsk but in another departure from tradition he wore civilian clothes - not a military uniform - and made no speech.

Russia used the territory of Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of their common neighbour Ukraine in February last year, and since then their military cooperation has intensified, with joint training exercises on Belarusian soil.

But Lukashenko has insisted that Belarus is not a party to the war and has not sent troops to fight alongside Russian forces in what Putin calls a "special military operation".

At Tuesday's Victory Day parade Putin said Russia was engaged in a "sacred" fight with the West over Ukraine.

(Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)