DISINFO: Political purges prevented the coup in Belarus
SUMMARY
The coup in Belarus failed for two reasons: one domestic and one international. The first one was president Alexander Lukashenko’s whole sweeping of the political field in the country, purging all pro-Western forces. The other reason was the enormous political, economic and informative support that Russia provided for Lukashenko, without which his close circle could have betrayed him and joined the coup.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation on Belarus framing popular protests as a coup and aiming to deprive the Belarusian opposition of any legitimacy.
Contrary to the “coup” narrative, protests in Belarus erupted spontaneously to contest the results of the presidential election in Belarus on 9 August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts and were largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a large part of the Belarusian society. Anti-Lukashenka protests have been mostly peaceful but were met with wide violence from Belarusian police and authorities, including beatings, torture, and excessive force.
Comments about “sweeping the political field” and “purging of pro-Western forces” actually refer to the massive crackdown on the opposition during the year since protests erupted first, including serious illicit actions such as filming confessions obtained through torture and the forced landing of a Ryanair flight to snatch dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich. Russia’s mentioned “informative support” for Alyaksandr Lukashenka included several disinformation campaigns and the use of Russian journalists to replace Belarusian professionals who refused to participate in Lukashenka’s manipulations.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives about Belarus in our database, such as claims that US and European allies stage provocations against Belarus and plot to kill Lukashenka, that the coup attempt in Belarus aims to relive Nazism, that the colour revolution in Belarus aims to prevent its integration with Russia or that Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya’s trip to Germany shows that Angela Merkel is her handler.