Last fakes of the week
01 May 2026
Has Lithuania’s logistics business come to an end? A radio broadcast intended for a Polish audience exaggerated the consequences of the conflict at the Belarusian border
misrepresentation, Lithuania, International Radio Belarus, Maria Krushevskaya, economy, big business.
30 April 2026
“They spend 58% on food and the rest on utilities.” The First Information Channel exaggerated the expenses of Latvian residents by four times
According to the First Information Channel, Latvian residents spend more than half of their salaries on food and the rest on utilities. However, the broadcast mixed different indicators and presented the shares of individual household spending categories as if they accounted for nearly all income.
misrepresentation, Latvia, First Information TV Channel news.by, Evgeniy Gorin, economy, rising prices, salaries in the EU, healthy eating, utility bills.
29 April 2026
State media’s nuclear fakes: The costs of Chornobyl disaster remediation and the risks of nuclear power plant construction in Poland
To mark the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl accident, Radio Minsk discussed the financial costs of addressing its aftermath. Meanwhile, the amount of state investment in Chornobyl programs was overestimated by a factor of ten. Another state media outlet — the First National Channel of Belarusian Radio — portrayed the Polish nuclear power plant as a project entrusted to a company with no experience in building NPPs.
misrepresentation, Belarus, Poland, Radio Minsk, First national channel of Belarusian radio, Aliaksei Audonin, Irina Novikova, accidents, radiation, nuclear waste.
28 April 2026
“We’ll be fed...” Why the state media’s conclusions about the success of Belarusian fish farming are misleading
Following Aleksandr Lukashenko’s visit to the Paluzh fish farm, state media began discussing the development of Belarusian fish farming and the potential for domestically produced fish to supply the market. However, official targets and actual results paint a different picture. Production in the country has fallen short of targets for many years and has yet to return to the levels seen in the early 2010s.
misrepresentation, Belarus, Belarus Today, First national channel of Belarusian radio, Maxim Kharin, economy, agriculture.
23 April 2026
“Orbán will retain his power.” Political scientist Piatrouski based his forecast on fake polling data
A few days before the parliamentary election in Hungary, political scientist Piotr Piatrouski appeared on Belarusian Radio and said that Viktor Orbán was leading in almost all polls and would most likely retain power. However, this was not in line with pre-election sociological data: some polls favored the incumbent prime minister, while others showed his rival, Péter Magyar.
misrepresentation, Hungary, First national channel of Belarusian radio, CTV TV channel, Piotr Piatrouski, politics, elections, the opposition.