On 26 January 2025, Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced his ‘overwhelming’ victory in his seventh presidential election, claiming a record-high 86.8 per cent of the vote. This way, Lukashenka extended his rule to 2030. If everything goes according to his plan, by that time, a 76-year-old Lukashenka will have ruled Belarus for 36 years. These so-called ‘elections’ were held under extraordinary security measures, repression, and in an atmosphere of total fear as we described here .