Belarusians vote on Sunday in a presidential election to extend Alexander Lukashenko's 30-year stranglehold on power in which he has crushed all opposition and helped his ally Russia invade Ukraine.

Belarus is set for a presidential election on Sunday, with five candidates on the ballot but no real contest. Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is expected to secure another five-year term, a result the

Russian, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko casts himself as a plain-spoken strongman and "president of the ordinary people".A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko seems unbothered by his characterisation as a ruthless autocrat,