**Kremlin Backs Lukashenko’s Election Victory**
The Kremlin has welcomed Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s claim of winning the presidential election. This comes despite Western criticism of the vote as unfair.
Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, was declared the winner with 86.82% of the vote. Only a few other candidates were allowed to run against him, and they received very little support. Sergey Syrankov got 3.21%, while Oleg Gaidukevich got 2%. Some voters even marked their ballots “against all”.
The European Union’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, had criticized the election ahead of time. She said it was a sham and an insult to democracy. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also condemned the results. She called the vote a way for Lukashenko to illegally keep his power.
The situation in Belarus has been tense since the last presidential election in 2020. Protests turned violent, and many people were arrested. Since then, over 60,000 people have been detained for speaking out against the government.
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