Alexander Lukashenko

Biography

Alexander Lukashenko managed a state farm in Soviet Belarus and was elected to the Belarusian parliament in 1990, where he headed an anti-corruption committee.

He won Belarus's first presidential election in 1994 and has ruled since, extending his powers through referendums and keeping much of the economy under state control. He forged a close union with Russia. Elections under his rule have not been recognised as free or fair by Western observers.

After the disputed 2020 election, mass protests were put down with thousands of arrests, and leading opponents were jailed or forced abroad. In 2022 he allowed Russian forces to use Belarus to invade Ukraine.