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.

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, claims to have won a landslide victory in an election already being denounced across the Western world as a “sham”.

By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was on track to extend his 31-year rule with a massive win in a presidential election on Sunday that Western governments rejected as a sham.