Propaganda may have played a big role in the events leading up to a deadly drone strike on a Belarusian bus in Russia. By distorting reality, it makes it difficult for people who rely on official information sources to accurately assess risks.
One woman was killed, while five Belarusian children and one adult were injured in a drone attack on a Belarusian bus in Russia’s Bryansk province on June 17.
Some social media users have blamed parents for sending their children on a journey through southern and western Russia, a region that has effectively become part of the conflict zone due to regular Ukrainian air strikes on infrastructure in Crimea and its supply routes in Russia.
However, parents made their decisions based primarily on information provided by official propaganda outlets. Independent media have been banned in Belarus, and Belarusians face punishment, including imprisonment, for following outlawed news sources. Dozens of independent journalists remain behind bars.
State propaganda remains largely silent about Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, meaning some parents may simply have been unaware of the potential risks.
For years, propaganda has promoted an image of Belarus as a safe and prosperous country, crediting its leadership with maintaining “peaceful skies.” State media do not report on the frequent incursions of Russian and Ukrainian attack drones into Belarusian airspace or on tensions along the country’s southern border.
Meanwhile, tour operators continue to advertise inexpensive vacations in Russian-occupied territories.
Holiday.by advertises about 100 tours to Crimea and more than 420 tours to Abkhazia departing from Minsk.
Taŭryka Tur transports tourists by bus from Minsk via Babrujsk, Žłobin, Homiel, Orel, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, and Feodosia to Sudak for a 14-night vacation costing just $140, plus a $50 reservation fee, with accommodation included.
The tour operator has been organizing trips to Russian-occupied Crimea since the summer of 2014.
Most Crimea tours advertised on Holiday.by involve four nights of travel by road.
“Peaceful skies” remains the central message of the Alaksandar Łukašenka regime. State media report on hostilities in Ukraine while emphasizing the contrast between war there and peaceful life in Belarus.
Ignoring obvious realities has long been a hallmark of Belarusian officialdom. It is worth recalling that Łukašenka and his officials initially dismissed the COVID-19 pandemic and later classified mortality statistics in an apparent effort to obscure the true death toll.
Today, the government suppresses information about drone incursions, threatening criminal prosecution against anyone who posts photographs of military drones in Belarus’ supposedly “peaceful skies.”
Propaganda downplays the risks of Russia drawing Belarus deeper into its war against Ukraine and the possibility of the conflict spilling over into Belarusian territory. At the same time, it exaggerates perceived threats from western neighbors and NATO.
The authorities have failed to warn the public about risks, leaving many Belarusians in an information bubble and convinced that Russia is safe. In this sense, the Bryansk incident was, to some extent, predictable. Given enough time, an event of this kind was bound to happen.
Whether Minsk will draw any long-term lessons from it remains to be seen.
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Viktoryja Haroška, the wife of a coach at the Rečyca sports school for children, has been confirmed dead. Originally from Ukraine, she had lived in Belarus for many years.
Two passenger buses departed from Rečyca for Russia’s Gelendzhik early on Wednesday morning, carrying about 90 people, including 41 children. Around 11:00 a.m., a passenger informed city authorities about a drone attack in Bryansk province. The bus that was struck reportedly carried 43 passengers, including 28 children enrolled in soccer programs.
The trip to Russia was organized as an annual summer retreat funded by the participants’ parents. According to the Homiel Regional Soccer Federation, a different route had usually been used in previous years.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied any involvement, stating that Ukrainian forces had not used unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in Russia’s Bryansk province at the time of the attack.
Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday evening that he had “urgently contacted” Belarusian authorities and received “preliminary information” about the incident. Lubinets also “strongly emphasized” that Ukraine “has absolutely nothing to do with it.”
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