Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said Sunday he had "no regrets" about allowing Russia in 2022 to use his territory to invade Ukraine.

The border between Belarus and Ukraine is closed, but we maintain certain contacts, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media on .

Living 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Belarusian retiree Sergei Budyukhin says the war on the other side of the frontier never feels far away. “I am afraid,” said the talkative 63-year-old on Lenin Avenue in Gomel,

Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.

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.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko explained to journalists on 26 January why Belarus should be part of Ukraine peace efforts, BelTA has learned.

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

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

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, has been making signs of reaching out to the West. He is all but certain to win an election on Sunday.

MINSK - Reclusive Moscow-allied Belarus will hold a presidential election on Jan 26, with President Alexander Lukashenko set to cruise through to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule. Mr Lukashenko – a 70-year-old former collective farm boss – has been in power in Belarus since 1994.

Citizens were pictured heading to the polls in the country's capital, Minsk. Four opposition candidates appear on ballots, but all are loyal to Mr Lukashenko, and have praised his rule.