Fake#1 CIS-2023 Games are highly popular in Belarus

Fake date 14.08.2023

The 2nd Games of the CIS countries 2023 has been held in Belarus. This sporting event was very popular with spectators, so there were not enough places on the sports grounds, Aleksandr Dorohovich, First Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism, claimed.

In particular, here is what he said on the air of Radio Minsk, the state-run media outlet, on August 14:

“There was a full house everywhere, the guests noted. Wherever they went… It didn't matter whether the Belarusian team played or not, there was always a full house. They say: “How? We are shocked!” If the host country was not playing...”

Then Andrey Krivosheev, the head of the pro-government Belarusian Union of Journalists, added: “Yes, half-empty stands, we learned this from the Baltic countries.”

In fact, fans of the CIS-2023 Games could visit all competitions free of charge. However, we did not see some of the full houses on the sports grounds on the video broadcast from the Games' official website. Instead, the stands were almost empty.

Rhythmic gymnastics tournaments were held almost without spectators. Also at the Dynamo stadium, where athletes performed, there were empty stands. There was almost no attention to the play of the Belarusian handball team as well. At the other competitions of the Games, it wasn't crowded either.

Fake#2 Nearly 3,000 churches to be demolished in France

Fake date 10.08.2023

Aleksandr Lukashenko has invited the Brazilian president to visit Belarus, Lukashenko's press service reported following his meeting with the Brazilian ambassador on August 10.

Brazil used to be the main buyer of Belarusian potassium, and now the country is lobbying for the easing of sanctions against Belarus. 

In such a context, Pyotr Petrovsky, the pro-government political scientist, said, that 

Brazil plays a special role in the world, even the center of Christianity is now “located in South America”, while Europeans destroy their temples.

“In France, in 2015, the Senate adopted a plan to demolish 2,800 churches,” Pyotr Petrovsky claimed on the air of the YouTube channel of Grigory Azarenok on August 10.

The news about three thousand temples in danger was really covered by the media, however, that happened long before 2015. Thus, the article with the heading 'Mayors are forced to demolish their churches' was published in Le Figaro in May 2007.

Here is what, in particular, was reported: “Béatrice de Andia, the head of the new Religious Heritage Observatory, says that based on the Senate report, “2,800 of the 15,000 protected rural churches” are “in a situation of danger”. 

The BIC discovered the mentioned report issued by the French Senate in 2006. Here’s what it said:
“National Heritage and Architecture Commission drew attention to the alarming “sanitary condition” of historical monuments, in particular listed monuments.

They estimate that 20% of these monuments are in danger, that is, approximately 2,800 out of 15,000.” 

Thus, firstly, the report of the Senate was about historical monuments, and not just about churches. Secondly, the danger was caused by sanitary conditions, not by the planned demolition of monuments.

Fake#3 Minsk National Airport served 10 million passengers annually before the imposition of sanctions

Fake date 11.08.2023

Aleksandr Lukashenko has recently visited Minsk National Airport. This airport had reportedly served ten million passengers annually before the sanctions against Belarus were imposed. This was stated on August 11 by the head of the state TV channel Belarus 1 Ivan Eismont, who commented on this news together with political scientist Vadim Gigin. 

“One of the most significant strikes was against OJSC Belavia. What year, recall, 2021? In connection with the Protasevich case. They didn't hide: they wanted to ruin the national air carrier. Failed to do it,” Gigin claimed.

“Yes. It also was against the airport. Because, excuse me, the ten million passengers had been passing, you remember... Riga is such a main competitor, Warsaw,” Eismont added. 

In fact, Minsk National Airport has never had such many passengers per year. Passenger number record set in 2019. That year the airport had served 5.1 million people.

In 2020, passenger traffic fell to 1.9 million people a year due to the pandemic. Then, in 2021, the forced landing of the Ryanair plane carrying activist and journalist Roman Protasevich led to sanctions imposed by the West. That year 2.4 million passengers were served. It is not known the exact number of people in 2022.

Speaking about plans for 2023, Vyacheslav Khoroneko, the director of Minsk National Airport, announced a figure of two million people.

Moreover, it is not true that Riga and Warsaw were in the same league as Minsk National Airport. There was much more traffic there.

So, in 2019, the capital airport of Latvia served almost 8 million people, and Warsaw Chopin Airport — almost 19 million passengers. Another three million passengers passed through Modlin Airport near Warsaw.  

The airport in Vilnius, which the Belarusians jokingly called 'Minsk-3 Airport', could be considered a competitor to 'Minsk'. Belarusians flew low-cost airlines through Vilnius. In 2019, its airport served five million passengers.

Fake#4 The head of ARD, the German TV channel, insulted the audience

Fake date 11.08.2023

Belarusian propagandist Ivan Eismont accused the head of German television of lying and obscene insults to the audience. 

“ARD, the public TV broadcaster, decided to praise the meat prices rise in their report, in particular, allegedly because of the carbon footprint. And they showed a woman who was delighted that prices were rising.

But watchful viewers recognized her as an ARD employee. And when they asked for an explanation from the head of the TV, who wrote that such accidents happen... and then retouched. Well, actually, you can imagine,” Ivan Eismont said on the air of the 'Club of Editors' program on 'Belarus 1' TV on August 11.

The BIC team verified the information from this statement and found out that Ivan Eismant was inspired by the post from the channel of the social messaging app Telegram, 'Fuck you thats why'. Below the link, there is how the channel’s authors interpreted the news.  

Really, there was a scandal caused by this story in Germany: the TV reporter took a comment from the woman, who turned out to be an ARD employee.

However, in this case, no one allowed any foul language. Thus, Chief News Editor Stefan Brandenburg said, that before commenting, the woman had informed the journalist that she was a colleague, but the reporter did not hear it because of the noise in the supermarket.

“If the reporter had understood that he was dealing with a colleague, he would never have included her short and spontaneous reaction in the report. I ask you to respect that. Mistakes happen, especially under time pressure in the news reporting,” Brandenburg tweeted.

Fake#5 Up to 5 thousands of children went missing every year before the war in Ukraine

Fake date 11.08.2023

According to Belarussian propaganda, every year before the war, thousands of children went missing in Ukraine. Such a statement was made by a person named Mira Terada on the air of the program ‘Azarenok. Napryamuyu' on STV on August 16.

The former name of the propaganda representative was Oksana Vovk. Now she is the head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, a non-profit organization founded, according to its website, “with the assistance of Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin”.

“Indeed, the situation with child trafficking in Ukraine is terrible. It was terrible even before the start of the special operation. According to official data directly from the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, from 4 to 5 thousand children went missing every year. Now the figures are higher,” Mira Terada claimed.

This statement is not true. According to official data, the Ukrainian police received reports of almost 16 thousand children missing in 2021. All those were found except for five people. Police say the vast majority of missing children are found within 24 hours. Otherwise, they are put on the wanted list.

The BIC team learned from the Ukrainian public police comment regarding the issue that 1,375 children were on the state wanted list in 2020. Of these, only 16 people were not found. From January to November 2021, 19 children remained wanted.  

By November 2021, there were 186 missing children in total on the Ukranian state wanted list, including previous years' statistics.

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