January 2025 in Belarus is not one of them. Drive around Minsk and you'll see no big billboards promoting the portraits of candidates. There is little campaigning. The grey skies and sleet of a Belarusian winter add to an overriding sense of inactivity.

By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 prisoners on Friday in what state media called a humanitarian gesture, two days before an election in which he is set to extend his 31-year rule.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned another 15 prisoners shortly before the country's presidential election this weekend, state media reported on Friday. The state news agency BelTa reported that the released prisoners include eight who are serving sentences for extremism,