Belarus exit poll puts Lukashenko on 87.6% of vote in presidential election

Putin ally projected to easily secure seventh term in election that US and EU have said could not be free or fair

Alexander Lukashenko is firmly on track to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president with 87.6% of the vote in Sunday's election, according to an exit poll broadcast on state television.

Lukashenko, a close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been in power in the country since 1994.