In a presidential election dismissed as a farce and an affront to democracy, strongman Alexander Lukashenko has secured a seventh term in power to extend his 30 years of rule over Belarus.
State media reported 70-year-old Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, garnered 86.8 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results announced by the electoral commission.
With opposition politicians either in exile or imprisoned, and the four alternative candidates seen as state-approved extras in a rigged election, it was seen as inevitable that Lukashenko would obtain another five-year term in the presidency.
Around 6.9 million people were eligible to vote in the former Soviet republic closely aligned with Moscow, but their ballots on Sunday were not considered to count for much.
Voter turnout was reported at 85.7 per cent, according to the preliminary results.
Political scientist Valery Karbalevich, who fled into exile abroad because his life was in danger, told German news agency dpa the numbers published in Belarus had "nothing to do with reality".
"The power apparatus decides on the numbers in advance," Karbalevich said, adding that Lukashenko would have had no chance of victory in an election with real opposition alternative candidates.
As voters were casting their ballots, the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned in a post on social media platform X the "sham elections". She called them "a blatant affront to democracy".
However Lukashenko, casting his vote in the capital Minsk, said Belarus does not need approval from abroad.
"Recognise these elections or not, that's a matter of taste. I couldn't care less," Lukashenko told journalists.
