BELARUS PROPAGANDA UPDATE. Monthly review #12. September 2024 

BELARUS PROPAGANDA UPDATE. Monthly review #12. September 2024
Photo: president.gov.by

Download .PDF (320,54 Kb)

Executive summary:

In September 2024, the following narratives of the propaganda were most significant in Belarus:

I. BELARUS

  • On September 17, “National Unity Day” was celebrated in Belarus. The celebrations were accompanied by an increase in anti-Polish statements and tension between Poland and Belarus.
  • The presidential election scheduled for February 2025 has an increasing influence on the tone and content of the Belarusian media. There are election campaigns in favor of Lukashenka in the country with a complete absence of political campaigns of alternative candidates (as well as the alternative candidates themselves).
  • In September, a new propaganda TV channel and a Belarusian video hosting service were launched. In addition, other measures were taken to strengthen information support to the regime.
  • Belarusian TV released another propaganda “spy” story, this time – about a Japanese citizen, who happened to be in Belarus unluckily.
  • Lithuania sent materials to the International Criminal Court against Aliaksandr Lukashenka, as well as a request to YouTube to block Belarusian propaganda channels on this video hosting on its territory. YouTube went along with the request. The democratic forces seek a complete ban of Belarusian media channels on YouTube.

II. BELARUS’ DEMOCRATIC FORCES

  • Propagandists warmly endorsed the idea of introducing the concept of “foreign agent,” which the authorities announced in September.
  • In August and September, Lukashenka pardoned a group of political prisoners by his decree. This gave a new reason for propaganda to praise the dictator for his “generosity” and “humanism.”

III. WAR IN UKRAINE

  • Against the background of the ongoing aggressive and hostile rhetoric towards Ukraine, the top political leadership of Belarus, first of all, Aliaksandr Lukashenka himself, is more and more often heard calling for peace and negotiations.
  • The propaganda cannot hide, but neither can it comment critically on the numerous cases of Russian military drones flying in and crashing on the territory of Belarus, launched to strike peaceful cities in Ukraine and accidentally going off course. Lukashenka recognized the fact of the downing of Russian drones, but responded in a spirit of “everyone is to blame.”
  • At a meeting with the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, in Minsk, Lukashenka said that Belarus was ready to cooperate with Ukraine “on the same principles as with the DPR.”
  • Propaganda channels prefer to “ignore” or gloss over the successful operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk region of Russia as an event that does not fit into the standard set of “victorious” information agenda.

IV. THE “COLLECTIVE WEST”

  • In September, there was a serious growth of anti-Polish statements of Belarusian propaganda due to the so-called “National Unity Day.”
  • In general, Western countries continue to receive threats of using nuclear weapons or unleashing a “third world war” in case of an attack on Belarus.
  • At the same time, propaganda, first of all, from Aliaksandr Lukashenka himself, continues to make calls that “it is necessary to negotiate” and “sit down at the negotiating table” in order to end the war in Ukraine.

V. ARMENIA

  • In September, Lukashenka made several statements of a reconciliation nature in order to improve relations between Belarus and Armenia.

I. BELARUS

In September, the content of the propaganda media of Belarus was influenced by two important ideological events — National Unity Day (September 17) and preparations for the upcoming presidential election (February 2025).

National Unity Day

National Unity Day is a controversial public holiday approved by the decree of Aliaksandr Lukashenka in 2021 in honor of the “reunification of Belarus,” which refers to the annexation of the eastern Polish lands to Soviet Belarus in 1939 as a result of the partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. Thus, on National Unity Day, the population is offered to commemorate the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which causes mixed reactions even inside Belarus. The holiday is perceived as ideological, with clear anti-Polish and anti-Western subtext.

Aliaksei Dzermant, a pro-government and pro-Russian “philosopher” and “expert”:

“We felt that unity is easy to lose. We thought it was like air, it is natural, we breathe it and do not notice. But it is not. It is always possible to shake, to find cracks in any society, in any country. And, unfortunately, they tried to do it in our country. It is a lesson for us, and we have learned it, drawn conclusions from it.” (In an interview with BelTA, September 17)

Of course, another officious holiday became an occasion for new praises and gratitude to Lukashenka.

Aliaksandr Shpakouski, a pro-government and pro-Russian “political scientist,” advisor to the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Moscow:

The historical happiness of our country lies in the fact that at this critical period of time, Aliaksandr Lukashenka – a strong-willed and experienced politician, selflessly devoted to our dear Belarus – is the head of state. Given the magic of the holiday, one can associate the President with the medieval duke of our history. Let it be so. In this case, we are his retinue.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 17)

Lukashenka himself said in his solemn speech dedicated to National Unity Day that Belarus is a more peaceful country than all its European neighbors:

“Even now, when NATO guns are aimed at us from the territories of our western and southern neighbors, and kilometers of fences and minefields are growing along our borders, we respond simply and in the best traditions of “Europe’s last dictatorship” – we open our borders and do not require permits or visas. And people on the other side hear us. They come, look, draw conclusions – not at all in favor of those who forbid them to come here.” (BelTA, September 17)

“The battlefield”: election 2025

The upcoming presidential election scheduled for February 2025 is increasingly affecting the information agenda of the Belarusian media. The authorities strive to hold the election “smoothly and quietly” to avoid the “scenario of the 2020 seizure of power” and, at the same time, to come to the necessary result. For this purpose, the media space is not only being cleansed of the last elements of independence (we wrote about it in the previous issues of Propaganda Update, e.g. here), but also the rhetoric of propaganda towards internal and external “enemies” is becoming more and more intolerant.

On September 9, a broad pro-government election campaign called “Belarus Adzinaya” [Belarus United] was held in Belarus to agitate the population to vote for Lukashenka. During the campaign, speaking to university and school students in Minsk, Ryhor Azaronak, a TV presenter of STV TV channel and one of the most aggressive propagandists of the regime, said:

“All together, if necessary, we will go out and ask Aliaksandr Ryhoravich to continue to strengthen, preserve, protect, and carry our Belarus.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 9)

Ihar Tur, who also spoke from the same stage, said that “everyone should think, not make decisions under the influence of emotions and vote for Aliaksandr Lukashenka”:

You may like Aliaksandr Ryhoravich, you may not – from the point of view of politics and peculiarities of the economy, it is completely of secondary importance. It happens to be that he is the only one who can personally guarantee many issues. As for guaranteeing the prevention of war on the territory of Belarus, only Lukashenka can personally decide this. A lot of things are given to us personally under his name.” (Cited by POZIRK, September 9).

At the same time, there is still no information about other candidates who would be an alternative to Lukashenka. Despite this, the “president” seems to be extremely concerned about the outcome of the upcoming election.

On September 10, he held a meeting of officials on “preparations for political campaigns.” In his speech, among other things, he invited his invisible opponents to come to Belarus and explain why they are “fighting against the country.”

“I just want to advise them, as always, that if they want to turn the country upside down and run in the presidential election, prove their truth or whatever, they should come and fight in the presidential election. Without the street, without machine guns, without assault rifles and without sanctions. You need to come and explain to people why you “care” about Belarus so much and why you are fighting against it. Why you are planning an armed invasion into the territory of Belarus.” (website of the “president” of Belarus, September 10)

Lukashenka also reproached the West (the U.S. State Department, EU structures, Poland — all together) for supporting the Belarusian opposition. According to him, it is no longer enough for the West to “bash Belarus in the media,” so “they” (Western countries) will now allocate financial resources only for an “armed attack.”

On September 19, at the meeting with the heads of electoral bodies of the countries of the “Commonwealth of Independent States,” Lukashenka again mentioned the election. He said that he considered it a “battlefield”:

“This is already, let’s be frank, a battlefield in the pre-election and election periods, where the main actor is the CEC bodies and the election commission in general. Election campaigns have long ceased to be a technical procedure.” (BelTA)

In his opinion, in this sphere, it is important to “develop our own standards” so that the OSCE and other organizations do not impose “some principles”:

“Today we are thinking about what to do with the so-called foreign observers, because we know: their arrival is about prepared documents, which they will then announce and sign.”

On September 26, Lukashenka once again spoke about the election. He said that some “political opponents” were allegedly preparing an armed invasion of Belarus. The “president” praised the work of the propaganda media under his control and said that the opposition was losing the information agenda to him, so the U.S. allegedly demanded more decisive actions from the “fugitives” in exchange for funding – “like Ukrainians did in Kursk region.”

The Kremlin propaganda also actively contributes to Lukashenka’s promotion. For example, Russian politician and former member of the Federation Council of Russia Frants Klintsevich, speaking on the air of the state-owned STV TV channel on September 29, said that Belarus is a happy country because it has Lukashenka:

“How lucky Belarus is to have such a president. His friendship with Putin and his relationship with Russia in these difficult times is first and foremost a guarantee of peace and stability.”

According to deputy of the National Assembly and propagandist Vadzim Hihin, the most important area before the election is “information work”:

“It is necessary to tell people about the enemy’s plans in advance, to respond to problems in a timely manner, not to gloss over them, to competently cover the work of the authorities. Any pressure on the Belarusian state and our leader is doomed to failure. The election will be an exam for the voters themselves. For you and me. An exam for our civic maturity and responsibility.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 11)

A spy movie against a Japanese citizen

On September 5, Belarus 1 TV channel broadcast a propaganda film-exposure “The Failure of a Samurai from Tokyo.” It told about another exposed “spy,” this time Japanese citizen Nakanishi Masatoshi, who was detained by the Belarusian KGB while trying to leave Belarus on July 9. The authorities charged him with “agent activity” (Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus). In the film, they use hidden camera footage, footage of interrogation at the KGB, show photos of the family, bank cards, and fragments of correspondence.

According to the version of the Belarus-1 state-owned TV channel, in 2008, Nakanishi Masatoshi traveled to Eastern Europe, allegedly for intelligence gathering. It is said in the film that Masatoshi had a “curator” to whom he constantly reported, especially after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The curator was allegedly interested in whether sanctions were working, whether people were detained on the streets for photos of strategic sites, etc. According to propagandists, Nakanishi Masatoshi took more than 9 thousand photos from the Belarus-Ukraine border.

The Belarusian independent media outlet Reform.news accused the KGB of lying and manipulating data. An employee of the media outlet who speaks Japanese accused the creators of the film of forging a translation of Masatoshi’s correspondence with his relative. According to Reform.news, this translation is so “free” that the meaning of the conversation “changes beyond recognition.”

***

On September 12, Belarus presented its own video hosting VIDEOBEL.BY. Speaking at its presentation, Marat Markau, the Minister of Information of Belarus and former director of the ANT propaganda channel, said that the country needed its own video hosting in order “not to be left without tools of information influence”:

“We are constantly under pressure when our resources start to be shut down as soon as we speak an inconvenient truth. That is why today we have created a Belarusian platform where the main political video content produced by us will be accumulated.”

At the same time, according to him, “there is no task to close YouTube in the republic” now, but if necessary, “measures will be taken”:

“We will use all tools [against pressure]. As soon as we feel threatened by any service provider, we will act adequately. Adequately, proportionately, diplomatically correct.”

On September 20, the same Markau, speaking at a conference dedicated to future election campaigns, said that Belarus had repeatedly restricted the “information space” in four years:

“We have… radically strengthened our ability to regulate the country’s information space. Some will say that we are “tightening the screws” and that this is undemocratic. I will answer that we have not yet adopted all the “democratic experience” of our Western neighbors, there is still potential, you can rest assured. The main thing is that today we have stopped being shy of decisive actions, we have drawn conclusions and know where our weak links are, and we are working on them.”

On September 17, on National Unity Day, it was also announced that a new propaganda TV channel called “First Informational” would be launched. It is planned to open 24-hour news broadcasting on the channel. The previously existing “Agency of TV News” now became the editorial staff of this channel.

An English-language version of the channel was also announced to be launched soon.

Ihar Tur, a TV presenter of the ONT channel, explained the need for a new propaganda television better than anyone else:

“We live at a stage where there is no such thing as news, any message is propaganda. The only difference is what propaganda is and whose propaganda it is. At the state level, propaganda is meant to protect the national interests of countries. That is, if there is propaganda around, then all of it is protecting someone else’s interests. It seems obvious to me that one should choose one’s own country’s propaganda.” (ONT, September 17)

Former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt, who fled to Belarus in early 2024, announced the establishment of the “Polish Truth” foundation in Minsk, which aims to “strengthen friendship, mutual understanding and harmony between citizens of the European Union, Russia and Belarus.” The Polish defector called “participation in information and propaganda activities” one of the tasks of the foundation. Another task is “to break the Western blockages of objective information.” The announcement of the establishment of the organization does not say how these tasks will be implemented.

On September 19, Andrei Mukavozchyk, a columnist of the pro-government “SB.Belarus Segodnya” newspaper and a well-known propagandist, published a program article titled “Media culture and the boundaries,” where he defines, in his opinion, the relevant tasks of propaganda. In it, the author raises questions about the boundaries and limits of permissibility in media culture and answers them himself. Mukavozchyk uses the hackneyed propaganda narrative that there is a war against Russia and Belarus, which means that one should use military methods in the war. Therefore, propaganda should “feel free not to be subtle” and propagandists should “forget about white jackets and gloves” [politeness]. In his opinion, one can even use an obscene language, be tough and even “show meat with blood” to achieve this goal:

“The task of propaganda (especially in war) is not only to ‘lead by raising the level of the public’ – but to explain simply and quickly to the population what is good and what is bad. Where are their own, where are the strangers. The best response, as we know from the arms race, is an asymmetric response. An asymmetric response is [as in chess] to sweep away the pieces and hit the head with the board. If there is the result we want, then it is done right.”

“We are defending our country, we need a result, there can be no boundaries here. … That’s why media culture now is what it is: what allows us to survive is cultural. Propaganda is the culture of a strangled state.”

Lithuania: appeal to the ICC and blocking of propaganda channels on YouTube

In late September, the Lithuanian government sent materials to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accuse Lukashenka of possible crimes against humanity against Belarusians. This is an important political step to recognize the crimes of the Lukashenka regime against its own citizens, which is why the dictator himself reacted to the news quite painfully. On September 30, when commenting on the news, he said that his opponents “can’t wait” to take him out of the arena of political actions:

“…The purpose is to bring the President of Belarus to responsibility and take him off the agenda. As they write, so that the President of Belarus, if peace negotiations start in Ukraine, will not be able to take part in these negotiations.”

Foreign Minister of Belarus Maksim Ryzhankou also spoke out about it:

“Lithuania committed yet another anti-Belarusian political action. The outgoing Lithuanian administration, which for a long time does not refrain from using the most dirty and contrary to international law methods of work, decided to use the Western-controlled judicial institutions, the biased nature of which has long been obvious to everyone.”

Lithuania also became the first country to submit a request to the administration of the YouTube video hosting to block a number of accounts of Belarusian propaganda media on its territory. This was reported in the media by Franak Viachorka, the advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. At the same time, according to him, “it will be necessary to fight” to get Youtube to block these channels inside Belarus itself. “This is the result of the sanctions that were imposed against Belteleradiocompany, and in the end, YouTube decided to comply with them,” Viachorka said.

II. BELARUS’ DEMOCRATIC FORCES

Tightening of legislation

During the pre-election period, attacks on opposition democratic forces by the authorities traditionally intensify. The regime adopts new legislative initiatives that toughen the situation of civil activists and protesters. In September, plans were announced to introduce the status of “foreign agent” for individuals and organizations in Belarus, similar to the Russian law. This was announced by Chairman of the Central Election Commission Ihar Karpenka:

“Today, many countries are adopting legislation on foreign agents. This is connected, among other things, with the electoral process. How can a fair election be held if some participants fulfill a certain order with foreign money?”

Pardon for political prisoners

In August and September 2024, Lukashenka pardoned several groups of political prisoners in Belarusian prisons, mainly because of the events of 2020. This was used by the pro-government commentators, who praised the dictator for his “wisdom,” “humanism,” and “generosity,” while remaining silent about the reasons why these people were in prison in the first place. Yury Vaskrasenski, a former opposition activist and member of the so-called “pardon commission,” does not hide the fact that the purpose of releasing political prisoners is to ease Western sanctions against Belarus:

If it is necessary to release another batch in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, we will consider this option. We can consider all the issues, because we need to pay pensions, we need to support women in labor, maternity leave, raise children…. We ask patriotic citizens: guys, what is more important to us… Letting 50 zmahars [pejorative name for opposition activists] go and quietly ensure that the budget is filled? Or keeping them in prison? The funny thing is that they are eating our money.”

In his interview with the Zerkalo independent media outlet on September 24, Vaskrasenski said that the further process of pardoning political prisoners “may stall,” among other things, because “sanctions will not be lifted” and “the West will continue to put pressure.” He threatened that in case of “economic, political and military pressure,” the Belarusian authorities will have “to take steps to ensure economic security,” namely “just join Russia, and that will be the end of it.” According to Vaskresenski, this option is “fantastic, but it can’t be discounted.” To avoid such a development of events, the opponents, in his opinion, should “get in contact with the Belarusian authorities.”

Ryhor Azaronak, STV TV channel:

“Lukashenka released ‘viazni’ [political prisoners] solely out of his own kindness. So that the sick and lame ones there would not die and cause us trouble. Say thank you and shut up. We do not give a damn what the U.S. and the EU will hear.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 11)

Lukashenka himself also claims that he makes decisions on pardons solely of his own free will:

“First of all, no one can force me to do anything. It is impossible. I often say to journalists and others: you know me well, I have never made decisions on orders or under pressure.” (Website of the “president” of Belarus, September 10)

Lukashenka also spoke about another propaganda fake that there are “no political prisoners” in Belarus, because there are simply no “political articles” in the Criminal Code.

On September 27, at a meeting with BSUIR students, he said that he planned to continue the practice of pardoning political prisoners, once again emphasizing that no one puts pressure on him in this matter. At the same time, he indirectly recognized the existence of such pressure, as he connected the release of political prisoners with the easing of Western sanctions.

At the same time, other ideologists of the regime keep saying that Western sanctions allegedly only helped Belarus by stimulating its economic development and increasing its independence. Natallia Kachanava, the Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus:

“The sanctions imposed on our countries have created new opportunities for us. We started to produce new competitive products, identified the bottlenecks of our economy and closed them so that we would not depend on anyone. We have once again realized that we know how to do everything and we can do anything.” (BelTA, September 19)

***

On September 19, the Belarus-1 state TV channel showed the story “Murderous conspiracy. The target is Lukashenka,” dedicated to the “coup d’etat case,” in which, among others, Yury Ziankovich, a citizen of the USA and Belarus, was convicted. In an interview with propagandist Yauhen Horyn, Ziankovich says he has written a petition for pardon addressed to the “president” and asks U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to facilitate his return to the U.S. The U.S. Embassy in Minsk condemned “the Belarusian regime’s unacceptable display of a detained U.S. citizen in state media for propaganda purposes” and emphasized that “the regime’s history of using coercive tactics to produce such content questions the voluntary nature of the U.S. citizen’s participation.”

III. WAR IN UKRAINE

Lukashenka’s “peacemaking” statements

Belarus continues to support Russia in its aggressive war against Ukraine not only materially – by providing it with military infrastructure, airfields, bridgeheads, etc. – but also ideologically. Belarusian propaganda follows Russia’s main anti-Ukrainian narratives and generally follows the Kremlin’s guidelines, spreading disinformation and fakes about Ukraine, as well as creating its own ideological content.

On September 12, at the “Meeting with representatives of different nationalities living in the Republic of Belarus,” Aliaksandr Lukashenka said that Belarus is the only country that helps Russia in its aggression:

“50 countries of the world are helping Ukraine, while only Belarus is helping Russia, because we are legally and de facto obliged to do so.”

Lukashenka presents himself as a peacemaker who wants to resolve the conflict. At the same time, he accuses its victim, Ukraine, of fomenting the conflict:

“Ukrainians … at the command of the Americans began to aggravate relations with us: they expected that I would also start to get involved in the war. They would be happy now if Belarus joined this war. But to date, as far as possible, I am doing everything to end it.” (BelTA)

On September 28, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhankou, speaking at the session of the UN General Assembly, criticized the organization for not preventing Western countries from supporting Ukraine in the war:

“A strong organization would not allow Ukraine to fight today to the ‘last Ukrainian’ to please the transnational capital and in the interests of the collective West.”

“We offer our peacemaking efforts even now, for we know and understand Russians and Ukrainians better than anyone else. And we will do everything in our power to achieve peace on the long-suffering Ukrainian land. We are most interested in this!”

Aliaksandr Hanevich, the Belarusian ambassador to Switzerland, made a similar statement – that Belarusians are best able to resolve the conflict because they understand Russians and Ukrainians better than anyone else in the world. On September 17, in an interview to the Russian RTVI channel, he said that attempts to settle the issues of European or Eurasian security without the participation of Russia and Belarus “are absolutely hopeless,” because

“Only we and the Russian Federation understand what is happening there [in Ukraine], because we are Slavic peoples, and we understand more humanly the processes that are going on there”.

Belarus, being Russia’s accomplice in the war against Ukraine, provides its territory and infrastructure not only for Russian troops, aircraft and weapons, but also for the creation of propaganda anti-Ukrainian “products.” In September, Yury Aliaksei, the general director of the Belarusfilm studio, said that a joint Russian-Belarusian movie about the “special military operation” would be filmed in Belarus. According to the announcement, the heroes of the movie “save hundreds of lives by intercepting and hacking into the drones and geolocation systems of the enemy.” According to the head of Belarusfilm, the topic of the special military operation is interesting and important for the Belarusian audience, as “Belarus and Russia are two allied countries with the same roots, culture and folklore.”

The Belarusian “president” clearly wants to play “both sides” of the conflict. In mid-September, he received Denis Pushilin, the head of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR), in Minsk. Inviting the head of the occupied territory, actually a “gray zone” on the territory of Ukraine, is itself an anti-Ukrainian gesture. However, at the meeting with Pushilin, Lukashenka said that he was ready to cooperate not only with the DPR, but also with Ukraine:

“We are also ready to cooperate with Ukraine on the same principles as with the Donetsk Republic.”

At the meeting with Pushilin, the Belarusian ruler also expressed resentment that he was going to be prosecuted for “stealing” Ukrainian children:

“We always take your children here for treatment, recreation. They are very happy. However, they almost dragged me to some kind of court, saying that we were stealing your children. So I offered both Ukraine and the Americans: please come and find at least one stolen child.”

Operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk region

The operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in Russia’s Kursk region which started in early August, continued in September. Its purpose is to divert the attention of the Russian command and to redeploy Russian forces from Ukraine to defend its territory. Russian and Belarusian propagandists prefer not to focus attention on the obvious inability of Russia to take control of these territories. The propaganda tries to justify the failures by saying that foreign mercenaries are allegedly fighting on the side of the AFU, and Russia is actually confronting NATO.

Kseniya Lebedzeva, a journalist of the Belarus-1 state TV channel:

“The Ukrainian army occupied Russian territories. Of course, not exactly Ukrainian and not exactly the army, as military formations staffed with mercenaries from Georgia, the U.S., France, and Poland participated in the battles on Ukraine’s side – this is an established fact. That is, the North Atlantic Alliance wanted to actually occupy Russia’s territory.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 17)

Flights of attack drones into the territory of Belarus

The war against Ukraine unleashed by Putin with the help of Lukashenka is gradually “boomeranging back” not only to Russia itself, but also to Belarus. In September, Russian military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), launched by the Russian army to attack Ukrainian cities and deviated from their course, appeared several times in Belarusian airspace. According to our colleagues from the Belarusian Hajun monitoring project, eight Russian drones flew into Belarus on the night of September 4-5. Two of them were shot down over Homiel, a city with a population of half a million people, and Khoiniki district.

It was impossible to ignore such an event against the background of a wide public resonance. In the morning of September 5, officials and propagandists began to comment on the incident. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense confirmed the destruction of the drones in the airspace of the country, but did not mention whose drones were shot down and how they ended up in the sky over Belarus.

The reaction of propagandists to the event can be called confused and contradictory. For example, Mazyr news portal “Mazyr News” quoted the statement of Siarhei Fralou, a representative of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus, about the attack on Belarus by “Ukrainian UAVs,” but a few hours later corrected the statement by deleting the word “Ukrainian,” Flagshtok independent media outlet wrote.

Other propagandists, however, even before the investigation started, began to claim that the drones were launched by Ukraine and never corrected the information. For example, Aliaksandr Shpakouski wrote in his Telegram channel even before the statement of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense that the UAVs were Ukrainian and that it was “a provocation of the Kyiv regime on the eve of the presidential election in Belarus.” State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev called the night flights of the UAVs into Belarus “clear Russophobia” and “a provocation committed under the global order from overseas,” the purpose of which is to “stop the movement in Belarus and Russia, belittle [their] role on the international arena, and nullify our culture.”

Representatives of the Lukashenka regime persistently ignore the fact that UAVs were launched from Russia to attack Ukraine, and also ignore the participation of Russian air defense units to repel the “invasion” of their own drones. At the same time, propagandists urge people to “be vigilant” and not to spread “unverified information.”

The anonymous telegram channel “Nevolfovich,” linked to the law enforcement agencies of Belarus, demands citizens not to spread information and videos about drones:

“One should not forget that the war is going on not only beyond the southern border of Belarus, but also in the information field. The purpose of this informational confrontation is to spread panic in the society.”

He is supported by propagandist Ryhor Azaronak:

“We live in a frontline state, anything can happen. To drag Belarus into the war is a strategic task of the West and Ukraine. For sending photos and videos to extremist resources, you’ll be sent to prison.” (Personal Telegram channel, September 5)

In a commentary for the BelTA state agency, while accusing Ukraine of all sins, Lukashenka himself actually confirmed that “both” drones had flown into Belarus:

“I must tell you openly: we have agreed through channels with the Ukrainians that we will not mention the facts of drones, both Russian and Ukrainian, flying into our territory in the media. Why is this happening? Because both of them are operating these drones poorly. […] And these were Ukrainian drones, not Russian ones. Although it happens from the other side as well.”

Propagandists, following him, tried to soften the tension in the society, caused by the crash of the military apparatuses.

Vadzim Hihin, a deputy of the National Assembly, BelTA, September 18:

“Drones flying into the territory of the country are the costs of military operations, and there is no need to launch a propaganda campaign out of them.”

IV. THE “COLLECTIVE WEST”

Poland

In September, there was a growth of anti-Polish statements by Belarusian propaganda and, as a consequence, a growth of tension in Polish-Belarusian relations. It was connected, first of all, with the so-called “National Unity Day,” during which, as it was said above, it was proposed to celebrate the annexation of the eastern Polish lands to the Soviet Belarus, i.e., de facto – the division of Poland according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In particular, the propaganda regularly repeated the myth that Poland was experiencing some “phantom pain” from the loss of territories and dreamed of regaining them, and for this purpose wanted to attack Belarus.

Aleh Ramanau, the head of the “Belaya Rus” pro-government party, in an interview with ONT:

“We have to admit that [the Poles] are a people with historical greatness, who were able to create an empire, and they are an imperial people. And this imperialism is being reproduced in ugly and inadequate forms in modern times.”

Yury Vaskrasenski, ONT:

“Of course, they [Poles] dream of reuniting these four parts here: the Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian parts, that empire that existed “od morza do morza” [from sea to sea].”

Employee of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces Andrei Bahadzel, speaking in a political talk show of the same TV channel, accused Poland of preparing for aggression against Belarus:

“Soldiers sing songs about how they occupy the respective cities, maps are drawn, the population is prepared – psychologically, morally, i.e. by and large, […] if Drang nach Osten happens, it is most likely that Poland will be in the forefront.”

On September 12, at a meeting with representatives of various nationalities living in Belarus, Lukashenka expressed readiness to normalize relations with Warsaw “even tomorrow,” but Poland still wants to annex Western Belarus:

“Well, why would Poles spend 5% of GDP, billions of dollars today to buy weapons? Who is going to attack Poland? And what do we need from the Poles? We don’t need anything. What do the Poles need from us? Well, it’s clear, they need to take Western Belarus and Western Ukraine over there again. […] Listen, it’s absolutely impossible. Nobody will be able to conquer Belarus.” (Website of the “president” of Belarus)

At the festive event on September 17, Lukashenka once again threatened that “an attack on Belarus would mean the beginning of World War III.” According to him, “puppeteers from Washington […] are pushing Ukraine to confront Belarus.” Lukashenka also quoted a certain document, allegedly provided to him by intelligence services, which says that from mid-September to early November, the U.S. “expects a significant escalation of the military situation both on the part of Moscow and Kyiv on the front” and that “Western intelligence services are talking about Belarus as a possible place of escalation” because “the Americans need the war to continue to the last Ukrainian, or better yet, Russian.”

Aleh Haidukevich:

“The President told the truth! The attack on Belarus is really World War III. Wake up, Poles, Germans, French, wake up, Europe! It’s not Belarus that’s being dragged into the war, you’re all being dragged. Americans, wake up, you’ll get it too, you won’t be able to stay away on the island! Belarus will never kneel, remember that!” (Personal Telegram channel, September 17)

In late September, Vladimir Putin announced a change in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, significantly lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in case of an attack on Russia and Belarus.

Commenting on Putin’s decision, Lukashenka once again began threatening with nuclear war:

“As soon as they attack us, we use nuclear weapons. And Russia gets involved for us. We use nuclear weapons – we can be retaliated against. And against Russia, among other things. So Russia will use the entire arsenal. And this is already a world war.”

In addition, Lukashenka again said that “it is necessary to negotiate” in order to “stop” the war in Ukraine. According to him, Minsk “maintains contacts” with Kyiv through certain channels, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not want to listen because “America is pushing Ukrainians to war.”

At the same time, the Belarusian regime continues to claim that Belarus is a peaceful country that seeks only to maintain good-neighborly relations with all countries. Aliaksandr Lukashenka repeated this false thesis many times, including at the meeting on September 12:

“We are absolutely open and will be open to everyone who comes to us with pure thoughts, with peace. Therefore, it is difficult for Belarusians to understand what drives the European elites in their desire to isolate themselves and build the “iron curtain” again. Realizing that this is a way to nowhere, we respond by opening the borders and addressing the peoples of Europe directly. Fortunately, they hear us.” (BelTA)

Maksim Ryzhankou, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, (at the 9th “Belt and Road” summit):

“The so-called collective West, under the burden of responsibility, has clearly failed to fulfill the leadership role it claims to play. […] It is therefore time to return power to the majority. Including at the global level.” (BelTA, September 12)

“We are not turning our backs on our Western neighbors. On the contrary, we are taking steps toward them and continue to demonstrate our willingness to build a common global community together.”

At the same time, despite the “peaceful” statements of its leaders, propaganda continues to spread threats to the West. Andrei Mukavozchyk, a propagandist of the pro-government “SB. Belarus Segodnya” newspaper – in an interview with another propagandist Ryhor Azaronak (September 13):

“We are not afraid to die defending a just cause, we will go to heaven – that’s for sure, but you will simply die. The West is constantly “trying its teeth” on Russia, making steps to escalate the conflict, to bring it to an extreme degree. They are clearly provoking Russia so that it makes a rash step. Do they realize what they will do then?”

V. ARMENIA

After the rupture of relations between Belarus and Armenia that occurred in spring and summer 2024, when Lukashenka spoke in favor of Azerbaijan’s victory in the armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, in September the “president” of Belarus tried to somewhat soften his rhetoric towards Yerevan and fix relations. Speaking at a meeting with representatives of diasporas living in Belarus on September 12, he said:

“It would be nice if we had good relations with Armenia, as before, with all the shortcomings and nuances. Believe me, it is absolutely not our fault. We tried to help Armenians in every possible way, we cooperated with them as the closest people, we helped in every possible way. But you see, they want to go to the West, to the EU. […] What West? We are not against cooperation with the West, the Americans, but you see their policy.”

iSANS will continue to analyze main propaganda trends in Belarus and Russia throughout 2024.

The article is available in Russian.

Download .PDF (320,54 Kb)

22.10.2024