The three-decade long rule of vindictive Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, 70, was extended another six years Sunday, following a staged election condemned as a sham by Western governments. After a crackdown on protests against his rule in 2020,

Victory “demonstrates your high political authority,” the Kremlin chief gushes about his counterpart in Minsk.

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, claims to have won a landslide victory in an election already being denounced across the Western world as a “sham”.

By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for winning a seventh term in office, saying Sunday's election showed he had the undoubted backing of the people.

Russian, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko casts himself as a plain-spoken strongman and "president of the ordinary people".

Many Western leaders are decrying Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election victory Sunday, calling it a sham along with the country's opposition.

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya labeled Lukashenko’s successful reelection as “sheer nonsense.” Before Sunday’s vote, she had encouraged voters to cross out every candidate’s name on the ballot.

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