Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko is all but certain to extend his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s election that is rejected by the opposition as a farce after years of sweeping repressions.

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, has been making signs of reaching out to the West. He is all but certain to win an election on Sunday.

Belarusians go to the polls this weekend to vote in a presidential election that is almost certain to see incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko returned to office for a seventh term. The country was rocked by the largest mass protests since independence in the massively falsified previous elections in August 2020,