By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham.

Victory “demonstrates your high political authority,” the Kremlin chief gushes about his counterpart in Minsk.

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was on track to win a seventh five-year term with 87.6% of the vote in Sunday's election, according to an exit poll broadcast on state television.

Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election that Western governments rejected as a sham.

Belarus on Sunday held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give its 70-year-old autocrat, Alexander Lukashenko, yet another presidential term on top of his three decades in power.

Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-serving leader, has extended his 31-year rule in Belarus after being declared the winner of a presidential election that his exiled opponents and Western countries have denounced as a sham.

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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin congratulated his colleague Alexander Lukashenko on being re-elected as the President of Belarus. "You are always a welcome and dear guest on Russian soil. As agreed, I will soon be waiting for you in Moscow,

Russian leader Vladimir Putin congratulated his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on being re-elected as the President of Belarus. "You are always a welcome and dear guest on Russian soil. As agreed, I will soon be expecting you in Moscow,