Briefly:

• Propaganda uses any informational opportunity to confirm its theses.

• Recently, among the most active representatives of Belarusian propaganda, Russophiles with "Ruskamirov" views have been leading the charge.

• Propaganda does not like complications, it prefers simple black and white schemes.

• Belarusian and Russian propaganda synchronized against Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, before the Russian large-scale invasion.

— Is it possible to draw certain conclusions about how Belarusian propaganda reacted to the terrorist attack in the "Crocus" concert center in the suburbs of Moscow?

Did she endure some kind of pause while waiting for installation from above, or did she react quite quickly?

Why, apparently, the motives of the Belarusian propaganda almost exactly coincided with the Russian one?

- There was no pause with the definition of "version".

Our monitoring showed that posts accusing all "traditional" enemies of the Belarusian ruling regime immediately appeared in Telegram.

The propaganda had an eternal theme - the enemies of Belarus and Russia are undermining from the outside.

Immediately there were conspiracy theories about who did it and why.

Pavliuk Bykovsky

Conspiracy, the theory of conspiracies is such a thing, when the facts are not denied, but they are built into such a sequence that leads to the most incredible conclusions.

The situation when propaganda uses any informational opportunity to confirm its theses is nothing surprising or new.

For example, "Belarus Segodnya" stated that this was not a terrorist attack against Russia at all, but a terrorist attack against the "Union State of Belarus and Russia".

— Taking into account how quickly the state structures organized mourning demonstrations near the Russian representations in various cities of Belarus, the fact that the officials themselves almost fully took part in it - what is the political meaning in this?

Was it necessary to once again show your unity and solidarity with the Russian leadership?

- First of all, it should be noted that expressing mourning in such a situation is a completely normal and understandable action.

Another thing is that Belarusian officials do not express such mourning regarding the bombing of Ukraine and the death of civilians there.

The fact that you pointed out that there were officials in the first ranks of those expressing sympathy means that they were somehow "directed" from above to do so.

If such an instruction appears from above, the officials are the first to carry it out.

- Among the most absurd statements, we should recall the words of the propagandist Lazutkin, who literally stated the following: "Again, is it a coincidence that this is in Khatyn's anniversary?

Let's say it's a terrorist attack planned by the Ukrainian side."

When the official version has not been heard from anywhere, Belarusian propagandists have already started accusing the West and Ukraine in every way.

What do you think, was there a "clearance" from above for voicing such versions?

- I'm not sure that there was necessarily such a "breakthrough".

After all, recently among the most active representatives of Belarusian propaganda, Russophiles with "Ruskamirov" views have been leading the way.

It was difficult for them at the beginning of 2020, when there were information disputes between Minsk and Moscow, but now they are on a horse.

And these people sometimes even show their own initiative, which corresponds to their beliefs.

Another thing is that the state television channels work in close connection with the press service of Alexander Lukashenko, they plan a lot together.

In such a situation, the TV channels knew who was invited on the air and what these speakers would say.

Many Belarusians live in the Russian information space, so the state TV channels have seen that they can finally do something that will be interesting to people, and at the same time include their information content there.

— Expressing anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian versions, propagandists can feel completely safe and calm.

If you make a mistake, no one will punish you for it.

- Yes, definitely.

In propaganda, there is a "theme", and there is a "rheme" - a specific reason that can be used.

The terrorist attack became an occasion, where all versions were strung together according to a scheme known to him.

Attacks against Ukraine can be explained by the fact that, in this sense, Belarusian and Russian propaganda were synchronized at the beginning of 2022, before the Russian large-scale invasion.

- However, the Minsk regime is not waging a war with Ukraine.

Many say that some unofficial contacts are maintained between Minsk and Kyiv, we observe that Ukraine does not attack Belarusian territory, and so on.

Can such anti-Ukrainian propaganda not harm the relations between Minsk and Kyiv, at least on an unofficial level?

- Quite often in politics there is a discrepancy between the secret and the public.

There are even contacts between enemies during war.

Belarus is not directly involved in the war, and economic contacts have not been completely stopped.

Therefore, the scheme is not black and white.

However, propaganda does not like complications, it prefers simple black and white schemes.

Everything is wrapped up in the "we know who did it all" thesis, as propaganda has always pointed the finger at this enemy.

They do not invent a new enemy, there is no need for propaganda to be consistent.

This is not a topic that a person can ignore.

If a person is told that there are no drug interruptions, he can go to the pharmacy and check it himself.

But who did this terrorist attack - it is difficult to answer the person himself.

And I want to know the answers to this question.

And the propaganda gives an answer that rests on the old yeast of the Soviet anti-Western propaganda.

• Vitaly Tsygankov

  Vitaly Tsygankov graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of BSU.

  One of the two founders of the first non-governmental news agency BelaPAN.

  He worked in "Zvyazda" newspapers, was a correspondent in Belarus of the Russian "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", Associated Press, columnist in "Svaboda" newspaper.

  On Belarusian Freedom since 1994.

  Correspondent of Russian Freedom in Belarus.

  
  

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