The Kremlin on Jan. 27 welcomed Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko's claimed election victory, dismissing Western criticism of the vote as "expected." Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994 and is Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally,

Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-serving leader, has extended his 31-year rule in Belarus after being declared the winner of a presidential election that his exiled opponents and Western countries have denounced as a sham.