Disproof
This publication promotes recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Western-led coup attempt in Belarus, non-sovereign Western countries, and the Belarusian opposition as Western puppets. It tends to discredit Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya by misinterpreting the reasons behind her departure from Belarus which was due to her being threatened by the Belarusian security forces. The publication absurdly calls Russia, China, Turkey, and the CIS countries "the real world community," implicitly marking all other countries as US's satellites.
The article falsely suggests that the close alliance with Russia will protect Belarus from Western encroachments, thereby offering a false dilemma about Belarus's political future. The NATO and Western countries do not pose a threat to Belarus or organise rebellions as alleged. They did not increase their military presence near the Belarusian borders following the elections. On 16 August, NATO dismissed allegations that it was conducting a military buildup near the country’s western border.
Large-scale protests began in Minsk on August 9 against the results of the presidential election, and then in other cities. People revolted against election fraud and police violence towards thousands of rally participants. According to human rights advocates, over 30,000 people have been detained in Belarus since the election, and almost 200 were declared political prisoners as of mid-January 2021. By September 2020, UN human rights experts received reports of 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty after the disputed presidential election and called on Belarus to stop torturing detainees.
According to statistical data and independent observers, the official result of the presidential election was itself heavily doctored. A joint monitoring effort by three NGOs demonstrates the scale of falsification based on election protocols from 1,310 polling stations across Belarus and concludes that the announced result (80% of votes cast for Lukashenka) is mathematically "impossible" (p. 7). An analysis by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper shows that excluding "anomalous" voting districts from the official tally would see Lukashenka's percentage drop to 43%, and Tsikhanouskaya's surge to 45%, in which case a second round would have to be called.
The EU does not recognise results of the Belarus elections, condemning them as neither free nor fair. Since October 2020, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus in response to the fraudulent nature of the August 2020 presidential elections in Belarus, and the intimidation and violent repression of peaceful protesters, opposition members and journalists. A total of 88 individuals and 7 entities are designated under the sanctions regime on Belarus as of January 2021.
See earlier disinformation cases claiming that imperialistic Poland and Lithuania are the springboards for Belarusian Maidan, that CIA and Pentagon prepare Belarusian protestors in Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states, and that the West destabilises Belarus to destroy Russian civilisation, an alternative route of human development.
