DISINFO: The West failed to achieve the colour revolution in Belarus

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western attempts to organise a colour revolution in Belarus.

Western countries did not organise or help in organising protests in Belarus. Large-scale protests began in Minsk to contest the results of the presidential election in Belarus on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts, and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a large part of the Belarusian society.

People revolted against election fraud and police violence towards thousands of rally participants. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.

According to statistical data and independent observers, the official result of the presidential election was 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.

Read more about the concept of "colour revolutions" in the pro-Kremlin media here.

See similar disinformation cases in our database that claims that Americans and Europeans are orchestrating protests around the world; or that the Colour revolution in Belarus failed, that the West pursues a Maidan policy towards Belarus to encircle Russia; or that there was a Western plot to kill Lukashenka; or that the protests in Belarus are a colour revolution conducted according to Maidan scenario.