Big Shots: When Strongmen Pick Up Guns
- By RFE/RL
Beleaguered Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka stunned the world by arming himself with an assault rifle during massive protests against his rule on August 23. Here are some other strong-armed leaders snapped with guns.
![Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and wearing a tactical vest near the Palace of Independence in Minsk on August 23 during massive protests against his rule after a disputed election.](https://gdb.rferl.org/496075b7-5393-4e3f-965e-129669f82bc5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and wearing a tactical vest near the Palace of Independence in Minsk on August 23 during massive protests against his rule after a disputed election.
![Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei clutches a rifle with a telescopic sight as he speaks during prayers to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Tehran in June 2019. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/109e4e1c-94ad-41bc-8444-de76da826fa2_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei clutches a rifle with a telescopic sight as he speaks during prayers to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Tehran in June 2019.
![Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fires a rifle with one hand while holding a cigar in the other during a military parade in December 2000.](https://gdb.rferl.org/eb49f6d6-06c8-4b54-9345-483093234b45_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fires a rifle with one hand while holding a cigar in the other during a military parade in December 2000.
![Russian President Vladimir Putin aims a sniper rifle at the Kalashnikov shooting range in Moscow in September 2019.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b81348a1-f9ac-405a-8a21-1586b0ca1323_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin aims a sniper rifle at the Kalashnikov shooting range in Moscow in September 2019.
![Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev fires a pistol at a shooting range in an unknown location. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/944cce49-f2d4-4590-89b3-0d355d1e7f84_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev fires a pistol at a shooting range in an unknown location.
![General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler of Pakistan, fires a gun as army officers look on in July 2004.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b3188ffe-d76f-48c9-9b39-c3edd0b20902_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler of Pakistan, fires a gun as army officers look on in July 2004.
![North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandishes a weapon in January 2012, shortly after taking control of the communist dictatorship.](https://gdb.rferl.org/f9c9602b-82b1-476b-93de-a79ece348aea_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandishes a weapon in January 2012, shortly after taking control of the communist dictatorship.
![Longtime Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev aims a shotgun at a shooting center in northern Azerbaijan in 2012.](https://gdb.rferl.org/290ec27e-907c-4436-8355-0bb581f5c6a3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Longtime Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev aims a shotgun at a shooting center in northern Azerbaijan in 2012.
![Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov aims an assault rifle while filming a bizarre propaganda video released in 2017.](https://gdb.rferl.org/33658c07-5e5f-46cd-b47f-1972a6b70248_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov aims an assault rifle while filming a bizarre propaganda video released in 2017.
![Former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi holds a rifle presented to him as a gift by tribal leaders in October 2009.](https://gdb.rferl.org/1ecc79fa-58c0-4472-af7c-b53bbff9ca9a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi holds a rifle presented to him as a gift by tribal leaders in October 2009.
![Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left) and his Belarusian counterpart Lukashenka with the Belarusian president's 5-year-old son, Mikalay, as the boy pockets a golden pistol about 2009. The gun was a gift from Medvedev. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/974c520b-35b2-4681-96a0-60060d75e4e8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left) and his Belarusian counterpart Lukashenka with the Belarusian president's 5-year-old son, Mikalay, as the boy pockets a golden pistol about 2009. The gun was a gift from Medvedev.