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

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 that Western governments rejected as a sham.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

Belarus' election commission has declared Alexander Lukashenko the winner for a seventh term. Ronan Keating on boyband fame in the 90s: 'Our duty of care meant nothing' 9 items you have around your home that are worth more than you think Just Stop Oil activists storm West End stage and stop show starring Sigourney Weaver Whale shark floats over to scuba divers off Thai coast ‘I walked 25k steps per day for a year,

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.