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.

After breaking away from a crumbling Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Belarus became increasingly aligned with Russia, unlike its neighbors. That bond strengthened as Russia waged its war against Ukraine.

The E.U. has called the election a sham, and President Alexander Lukashenko has said he’s “too busy” to even campaign.

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said Sunday he had "no regrets" about allowing Russia in 2022 to use his territory to invade Ukraine.

Russia is our ally, our main market and our main supplier. We are interconnected. Naturally, we depend on each other,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a

Import substitution in Belarus and Russia has even applied the electoral process, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media in Minsk on .

The European Union rejected the election in Belarus on Sunday as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions. Belarus held an orchestrated vote virtually guaranteed to give 70-year-old autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko yet another term on top of his three decades in power.

Citizens were pictured heading to the polls in the country's capital, Minsk. Four opposition candidates appear on ballots, but all are loyal to Mr Lukashenko, and have praised his rule.

The aggressor country of russia intends to annex Belarus within the next ten years in order to further use the economic resources and geographical position to