Alexander Lukashenko brings his 16-year-old son onto frontline as protests endanger succession plans

Nikolai is the youngest of Mr Lukashenko’s three sons, and believed to be the offspring of an affair the president had with Irina Abelskaya, his former personal physician. The teenager has two adult siblings: Viktor, who sits on a national security council, and Dmitry, who chairs a state-run sports organisation.

Only Nikolai, though, has been groomed in public as a potential successor. Since his first appearance aged four, when he and his father reviewed the annual Independence Day parade in Minsk, he has been a regular presence when the president strides the world stage.

Among the fellow autocrats his father has introduced him to are the late Hugo Chavez, with whom he exchanged high-fives, and the then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who gave him a golden pistol.

During state occasions in Belarus, dignitaries are obliged to accord the boy due protocol. Nigel Gould-Davies, Britain’s former ambassador to Minsk, had to shake hands with him at a presidential reception in Minsk, even though Nikolai was only five years old at the time. Belarus generals are also expected to salute him.

As he has come of age, Nikolai has carved a public profile in his own right, doing Soviet-style photo ops of visits to grain farms and OAP homes. He also plays in a national ice hockey team, and is an accomplished pianist.

Last year, Mr Lukashenko denied that he was grooming his offspring to take over, insisting: “My children are not preparing for any power transfer.”

However, his glowing comments about Nikolai have left many unconvinced. In one interview, he described him as “very enlightened and mature”, adding that he even allows him to criticise aspects of his rule. “He is my main source of opposition”, he joked.