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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.