Belarus Presidential Elections: Lukashenko sets a record for the highest number of votes gathered.

The presidential election results in Belarus have been announced. For the seventh time, Alexander Lukashenko has been elected as the head of state, receiving 86.82% of the votes, reported the publication "Zerkalo," citing data from the local Central Election Commission.

The other four candidates collectively garnered less than 10% of the votes, while 3.6% voted against all candidates. The final results of the election will be announced on February 3.

It is noteworthy that in the current presidential election, Lukashenko set a personal record for the number of votes received. The publication provides a timeline of presidential election results in Belarus over the years:

• In the second round of the 1994 elections, Lukashenko received 80.34% of the votes;
• In the 2001 elections — 75.65%;
• In 2006 — 82.97%;
• In 2010 — 79.65%;
• In 2015 — 83.47%;
• In 2020 — 80.1%.

The last presidential election in Belarus in 2020 was marked by massive protests from the opposition. Many individuals faced arrests, torture, and received criminal sentences.

"Zerkalo" refers to Lukashenko's opponents as "spoilers," assigned various roles. In particular, these candidates confuse voters, hinder others with a chance of winning, and also simply exist on the lists for the sake of quantity.

"None of the registered candidates can be considered independent and real competitors for Lukashenko," the journalists noted.

It is worth mentioning that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has already assessed the election results in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko remains an ally of Ukraine's adversary, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lukashenko recently responded to questions about the initial days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He denied offering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to strike the Mozyr Oil Refinery.