Belarus holds constitutional vote as crisis in Ukraine rages
ABC News
Belarusians are voting in a constitutional referendum that the country’s authoritarian leader called to cement his 27-year-old grip on power, even as he offers the country’s territory to his ally Russia to invade Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine -- Belarusians cast ballots Sunday in a constitutional referendum that the country's authoritarian leader called to cement his 27-year old grip on power, even as he offers the country's territory to his ally Russia to invade Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has edged even closer to Russia amid crippling Western sanctions over his crackdown on domestic protests, said he was confident that Belarusians will support a set of constitutional amendments that would allow him to stay in power until 2035.
The revised main law also sheds Belarus' neutral status, opening the way for stronger military cooperation with Russia, which deployed forces to Belarusian territory under the pretext of military drills and then sent them rolling into Ukraine as part of the invasion that began Thursday.
Some of those forces quickly closed in on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, located just 75 kilometers (less than 50 miles) south of the border.
