Europe’s longest-serving leader won re-election in a contest widely believe to have been rigged. The result cements the power of a leader whose country is considered Russia’s staunchest ally.

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

Belarus “unilaterally” freed an American woman, Anastassia Nuhfer, from detention, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday.

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.

Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has extended his more than three decades in power in an orchestrated weekend election that the opposition and the European Union rejected as a farce.

Britain on Monday imposed sanctions targeting Belarusian officials and defence companies after joining Western governments in condemning what they called "sham" presidential elections in the country.

No credible opponents were allowed to run against Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since the 1990s.

The smiling face of President Alexander Lukashenko gazed out from campaign posters across Belarus on Sunday as the country held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give the 70-year-old autocrat yet another term on top of his three decades in power.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a seventh consecutive term in office Sunday in an election denounced by the European Union and the country's exiled opposition. With all his opponents in prison or living in exile abroad,