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.

Canada said on Monday it would impose sanctions on 10 individuals and 12 entities in Belarus, citing what it called "gross and systematic human rights violations" by Minsk.

"We are united in our condemnation of the sham presidential elections in Belarus on 26 January and the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Belarusian regime," a joint statement from Australia, Canada, the EU, New Zealand and Britain, said. The statement was published on the British government website.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is projected to take victory in the virtually uncontested election by a greater margin than he did in 2020.

President Alexander Lukashenko, often dubbed "Europe's last dictator," offered to free Anastassia Nuhfer whose arrest was linked to protests in 2020, a source told the AP.

President Donald Trump's new Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Belarus under Joe Biden has since been released.

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.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko is all but certain to extend his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s election that is rejected by the opposition as a farce after years o

The day before, Belarus released American citizen Anastassia Nuhfer, who had been arrested in December 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. Franak Viačorka, senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya,

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko is all but certain to extend his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s election that is rejected by the opposition as a farce after years of sweeping repressions.

A total of 1,043,270 European residents have visited Belarus since 15 April 2022. Most travelers came from Belarus's neighboring countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.