DISINFO: Death in Kyiv, defection at the Tokyo Olympics and refugees in Lithuania may all be setups against Belarus
SUMMARY
Everything happened almost simultaneously: a tour of the Belarusian opposition member Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya in Paris, Berlin, Washington and London, an asylum request of the athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who "fears for her life", and the death of a Belarusian activist in a Kyiv park. We also have accusations from Lithuania to Belarus about the arrival of refugees.
In the circumstances that this hung man appeared, if it had been a murder, there would be clear evidence: if he was drugged, there will be residue in his body, or lesions or tissues in the nails will appear in the autopsy. We all know that in any other case, repercussions would end quickly because it has all the appearance of a suicide, but regarding Belarus, any tragic circumstance like this, as is the situation of a person surely subject to a lot of stress and depression, is taken advantage of for political propaganda.
If it wasn't for the tragedy that the death of a human being means, we would be facing a film script worthy of the Cold War. Are these new setups against the country?
RESPONSE
This is an attempt to discredit credible accusations against the Belarusian regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenko by framing them as potential “setups”, aiming to deflect any responsibility for these illicit actions.
Though at this point it can't be affirmed that the death of Belarusian activist Vitaly Shishov in a park in Kyiv was a murder, it is also too soon to rule it out. In fact, the incident is being investigated as a murder disguised as a suicide. There are some clues pointing in this direction indeed, including the fact that Shishov -who ran a prominent organisation helping Belarusian dissidents to flee their country- was under surveillance prior to his death, and that his body showed marks consistent with a violent death. Shishov’s colleague Yuri Shchuchcko affirmed that Ukrainian intelligence services told him that Belarusian hit squads had been sent to the country to kill them both.
There is solid evidence, including footage (see here and here), proving that the Belarusian authorities are behind the surge of migrants arriving in Lithuania from Belarus, as Lithuanian authorities have repeatedly denounced. See here for our previous debunking of this story.
Events surrounding the asylum request of Belarusian Tsimanouskaya aren’t a “setup”, either: after having posted an Instagram post criticising that the Belarusian authorities had inscribed her in a 400 metres relay race without her consent, Tsimanouskaya was expelled from the Belarusian Olympic Team before she could take part in the Olympic competition she had trained for and from which she hadn’t voluntarily withdrawn. Belarusian sport authorities, however, claimed that she couldn’t compete due to her “psychological and emotional state” and tried to forcefully return her back to Belarus, after which she requested asylum at the Polish Embassy in Tokyo. According to the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF), an organisation that helps Belarusian dissident athletes, there are founded grounds to think that Tsimanouskaya would have been subject to serious retaliation if she had been sent back to her country. On 6 August 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revoked the accreditation of two Belarusian coaches over their alleged participation in Tsimanouskaya’s attempted forced return.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the forced landing of a Ryanair plane could be a provocation of the British special services; that Raman Pratasevich admitted his role in the plot to overthrow Lukashenka by force; that the European Union is planning an international court for Lukashenka; that Angela Merkel is the handler of Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanousakya; that the EU reaction to Lukashenka’s victory is an example of Western double standards; that the same lack of democracy and repression is present in EU countries that criticise them in Minsk; or that protests in Belarus are part of a “fire belt” to encircle Russia.
This disinformation message appeared in the same article as the claim that “The asylum request of Belarusian athlete Tsimanouskaya is opportunistic and nonsense”.