No matter how hard Western countries try to rewrite our history, the two greatest events of the last century - the Parade of Hope and the Victory Parade - will never fade from people’s memory and from textbooks.

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.

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 Western governments rejected as a sham.

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

With many of his political opponents either jailed or exiled abroad, Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed “Europe’s last dictator,” is all but certain to add a seventh term.

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.

Belarusians began voting Sunday, with President Alexander Lukashenko expected to cruise to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule. Polls opened at 08:00 am (0500 GMT) in Minsk's first presidential vote since Lukashenko suppressed mass protests against his rule in 2020.

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Belarus autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said Sunday that his jailed opponents had "opened their mouths too widely" as he voted in an election set to extend his three-decade rule in the

People voted for Aleksandr Lukashenko in the recent presidential election because they believe that the country is going in the right direction, State Secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union State Dmitry Mezentsev told journalists,

Reclusive Moscow-allied Belarus will hold a presidential election Sunday, with President Alexander Lukashenko set to cruise through to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule.

The last time Belarus staged a presidential election in 2020, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. That triggered cries of fraud, months of protests and a harsh crackdown with thousands of arrests.