Stanislav Shushkevich, the first head of state of an independent Belarus, is dead at the age of 87, reported broadcaster Euroradio on Wednesday, citing the former leader’s wife, Irina.
Shushkevich was a member of the Belarusian legislature in 1991 at the time Belarus was still a part of the Soviet Union, when hardliners attempted a coup against Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.
The sitting head of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet backed that coup and was ousted after it failed, clearing the way for Shushkevich to move into the top Belarusian spot.
He was also instrumental in signing the paperwork that dissolved the Soviet Union, thus creating an independent state which he led from 1991 to 1994.
The nation switched to a presidential system, but Shushkevich lost the first election to Alexander Lukashenko, who remains in office to this day.
Shushkevich was a well-known scientist and atomic physicist before he entered politics, and played a key role in investigating the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
He only took a seat on the Supreme Soviet in 1990.
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He went into intensive care in April due to a Coronavirus infection, but had been released back home at the end of that month.
