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We investigate corruption, uncover fake news and analyze the news agenda. The BIC is a member of the global network of investigative journalists.

Our journalists are the recipients of the national award “Free Word” from the Association of Journalists of Belarus in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. At "Free Word" 2021 BIC’s team also received first place for Analytics

BIC is a member of the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project)

We are also members of GIJN (Global Investigative Journalism Network)

News

26 верасня

Kremlin's fake news factory attempted to instill fear of Lukashenko-Wagner alliance

The Social Design Agency (SDA) is sanctioned by the EU and the US.

Among the leaked files of the Social Design Agency, BIC journalists found several cartoons depicting Aleksandr Lukashenko. This Russian organisation creates fake news and spreads disinformation serving the Kremlin's interests. The German newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Norddeutscher Rundfunk, as well as Delfi Estonia, got their hands on the leaked documents. 

The cartoons unearthed by the BIC refer to the events of the summer of 2023, particularly the deployment of Wagner Group personnel to Belarus following the attempted June mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia. The pictures show the danger of the Lukashenko-Wagner Group alliance for Western countries.

One of the pictures has the creation date 17 July 2023 in the file name. In it, Lukashenko is holding three nuclear bombs on a national decorative towel and saying a phrase in Ukrainian that translates as "Wagner, welcome to Belarus!"

Source: The leaked files of the Social Design Agency
Source: The leaked files of the Social Design Agency
Source: The leaked files of the Social Design Agency
Source: The leaked files of the Social Design Agency
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There's another cartoon with two versions – one with a caption and one without. It shows a pig with a trident running away from a bear with a blowtorch bearing the logo of the Wagner Group. In the background, you see Aleksandr Lukashenko with a charcoal grill and a pack of coal. 

"Going on a picnic? Don't forget the kebab!" reads the caption below. 

The file names "photo_2023-07-20_10-47-50" and "photo_2023-07-20_10-50-15" indicate that the images were created on 20 July 2023. The cartoon was posted the following day by an unidentified commentator on the Russian edition of Voyennoye Obozreniye's (Military Review) website. The comment was left under the article "In case of aggression against Belarus, Russia will respond with all means at its disposal". Subsequently, on 15 August, the image was published on the social media platform VKontakte.

The file titled "659_SPEC_G_Wagner in Belarus" contains an image of a soldier wearing a NATO helmet asking to be quiet at the European Union-Belarus border. The caption beneath it reads: "Pst! Da ist Wagner!" ("Shh! It's Wagner!").

The Social Design Agency (SDA) is sanctioned by the EU and the US. The project is led by Russian political technologist Ilya Gambashidze. An FBI official has accused the SDA of working for the Kremlin and named Sergei Kirienko, the first deputy of the Russian Presidential Executive Office, as their handler. According to the leak, SDA employees have produced and spread fakes on social media, including forgeries of official Armed Forces of Ukraine command documents, and have created memes and cartoons to promote pro-Putin narratives.