Roaming Agitators
In the new year of 2025, pre-election campaigning for candidates for “presidency” has officially kicked off in Belarus. Aleksandr Lukashenko, however, launched his propaganda campaign initiated his propaganda campaign much earlier than anticipated, with the assistance of his daughter-in-law, Hanna Lukashenko.
Hanna Lukashenko, Chairperson of the Working Group for Preparing and Holding the Unity Marathon. Source: sb.by
In 2022, the media holding Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya was created, in which Lukashenko’s daughter-in-law received the position of general producer. In two years of its operations, this production centre has taken up the lion’s share of the Belarusian media industry: it produces television shows and local celebrities, hosts state events, children’s parties, school graduation parties, launched its own video production and operates three radio stations.
Yet as our investigation revealed, Hanna Lukashenko’s most large-scale project was her father-in-law’s election campaign called the Unity Marathon. As part of this campaign, Belarusian artists, propagandists and officials travel throughout the country, praising the Belarusian regime. Popular online media personalities hold a special place in this campaign.
LUKASHENKO'S DAUGHTER-IN-LAW LEADS THE CAMPAIGN MARATHON
The presence of online influencers in the media and their impact on the country’s political life became obvious to the Belarusian authorities even before the 2020 election. Unlike pro-government media, the blogging sphere is less susceptible to administrative pressure, so Lukashenko’s apparatus then decided to fight dissent in the usual way – by purging those disloyal to the regime. The first bloggers to fall under the roller of repression for their “anti-state” activity on the Internet were Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Ihar Losik.
During the current election campaign, however, the Belarusian government changed tactics. The authorities decided to win over bloggers to their side and turn them into a propaganda mouthpiece.
“[In 2020] it was bloggers who largely shaped public opinion and intensified protest activity. Two main tasks are being tackled here by the regime. First, for bloggers within the country who have an audience, the authorities must prevent them from sharing the popularity of Tsikhanouski, Losik, Piatrukhin, Kabanau, and others. Second, it is essential to promote their narratives through existing information channels", comments Belarusian opposition politician Anatol Liabedzka on the situation.
Long before the election campaign, Lukashenko had his daughter-in-law in charge of the development of the campaign on his behalf. According to documents published by BelPol, it was Hanna Lukashenko and the Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya production company who became the curators and organizers behind the Unity Marathon event.
On September 17, 2024, Lukashenko personally launched this large-scale all-Belarusian action. Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya created a pool of pro-Lukashenko journalists, artists and bloggers to tour around Belarusian cities. The organizers decided to cover 13 locations: Brest, Baranavichy, Pinsk, Lida, Hrodna, Salihorsk, Homel, Zhlobin, Maladzechna, Babrujsk, Mahilou, Vitsebsk and Orsha. Each one hosts a two-day program featuring various events and large-scale concerts.
“It is a consolidation of the people. Their consolidation, first of all, in the love for the Motherland and in the understanding of the future that WE want to see for this Motherland", Hanna Lukashenko voiced the goal of the action in her interview with Belteleradiocompany.
ACT OF BLOG
The marathon format itself isn’t new for Belarus. A similar action called For Belarus already took place back in 2006. This time, however, Lukashenko’s great hopes in the election lie with the Belarusian youth. They decided to unite the young electorate essentially around Lukashenko with the help of a completely new link in this chain – domestic bloggers, said the director of Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya Andrei Huzel:
“We need to work with young people in non-standard ways. Young people watch less television and other traditional media. So we need to reach them in their own language. And bloggers are the ones they get information from".
Andrei Huzel, director at Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya. Source: sb.by
“[The authorities] realized they had missed out on the younger generation, and are now trying to rethink this and act differently. There aren't many ideas here. They just take Soviet patterns of working with young people and apply them to the present", says Anatol Liabedzka.
The narrative of Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya was picked up by officials from the Ministry of Information, and 10 days following the launch of the campaign, they hosted the first blogger forum in Belarus, BlogBy. This event aims to to “create a form of communication between the state and bloggers and between bloggers and the state” and “reach out to young people through bloggers".
“The combined audience of all the bloggers sitting in this room is over 27 million subscribers. These people [your subscribers] look up to you, they listen to you. Of course, the first thing they do is compare their thoughts to yours", Minister of Information Marat Markau said at the forum.
Marat Markau on the BlogBy forum. Source: mininform.gov.by
“They [the authorities] were surprised to learn that there is a parallel reality in which young people have an audience of hundreds and even millions of subscribers, listeners, and viewers. That they [the bloggers] were influencing the opinions, the feelings of more than one generation. So they came to their senses, but they use old approaches. All these methods, these congresses – is inherited from the Soviet times", says Nadzeya Belakhvostsik, editor-in-chief of the Media IQ project.
The head of Belteleradiocompany Ivan Eismant even promised to give airtime to bloggers willing to cooperate. And there were enough people like that.
Buro found out who these bloggers are and how exactly they are promoting pro-Lukashenko policies in the heat of the election campaign.
Thus, Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya announced that 10 to 20 bloggers with a total reach of 11 million users will be sent to each city. Sounds impressive, given that the entire population of Belarus has never crossed the 10 million mark. Who are these selfless influencers, tirelessly creating content on their smartphones day and night?
The title of the brightest star of the Unity Marathon in every sense can rightfully be given to the singer and TV presenter Ulad Kabiakou. He has 1.4 million subscribers on Instagram and 7.6 million followers on TikTok.
Ulad Kabiakou at the Unity Marathon. Source: @kobyakov_official Instagram account
Kabiakou's content is primarily aimed at children and teenagers. Earlier, we reported that the blogger was booked as a guest artist for the birthday of the son Tatsiana and Siarhei Anoshkas, Viktar Sheiman’s top managers.
During the 2020 protests, however, he openly empathized with Belarusians, yet “changed his tune” following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Kabiakou is now actively touring in Russia. However, on the eve of the election, by no means does he forget about his homeland, but literally puts it at the forefront. According to the blogger, he had to cancel a concert to perform at the BlogBy forum. The lecture was devoted to content creation, but he couldn’t ignore the topic of election:
“I am a fan of Aleksandr Lukashenko! I think he is also a blogger of sorts, and I really hope the 2025 election will go well. Young people will have to support our President. I hope everything works out for us".
Kabiakou is also promoting the electoral agenda at the Unity Marathon. The blogger presented his visit to the Komintern production facility on TikTok as “searching for a factory to make his new merch”, and while searching, he is wearing Lukashenko merch.
Ulad Kabiakou (first on the left) wearing the “merch of the First”. Source: @kobyakov_official Instagram account
The blogger explained the excursion to Gomselmash by his wish to “learn more about grain harvesters”. Then he admitted, though, that he took part in a pro-government marathon and described in all colors how “cool” the event was. Prior to the New Year’s Eve, he was invited as a performer at city celebrations as part of the Unity Marathon.
Among the bloggers covering the Unity Marathon, Buro also noticed a whole load of artists from the domestic label Flagman Music: Anhelina Mikhalova, better known online as Andzhilisha, Ulliana Staliarova, who performs under the stage name Ulka Pulka and Dzmitry Siuchyk, popularly known as Dim Dimych.
From left to right: Ulliana Staliarova (Ulka Pulka), Dzmitry Siuchyk (Dim Dimych), Ulad Kabiakou and Anhelina Mikhalova (Andzhilisha) at the Unity Marathon. Source: @kobyakov_official Instagram account
Andrei Paulovich (far left in the bottom row) and Kiryl Brazanski (far right in the bottom row). Source: @flagmanmusic Instagram account
Andzhilisha and Ulka Pulka are active participants in the Unity Marathon and regularly report on their "tours" on their social media: they post reviews of state enterprises, perform as singers at city concerts, and even had the honor of being photographed with Lukashenko Jr.
Anhelina Mikhalova (Andzhilisha) and Mikalai Lukashenko at the Unity Marathon. Source: @andjilina Instagram account
Ulliana Staliarova (Ulka Pulka) and Mikalai Lukashenko at the Unity Marathon. Source: @ulkapulka_official Instagram account
“Girls, I won this life!” Angilisha commented on post with Mikalai Lukashenko on TikTok.
In addition, Ulka Pulka paid a visit to Aleksandryia, where she sat at the school desk of Aleksandr Lukashenko and had it recorded.
Despite the online war with pro-government activist Volha Bondarava and the fact that he was not accepted into the pro-government party Belaya Rus, Dim Dimych still turned out to be trustworthy enough to join his “labelmates” at the Unity Marathon. Siuchyk has performed in front of the residents of provincial towns and, together with Kabiakou, Andzhilisha and Ulka Pulka, congratulated Lukashenko on the upcoming New Year with the song Batka U Nas Krutoy (Our Gaffer is Cool)!
Famous bloggers with millions of followers certainly provide the Unity Marathon with traffic, which is converted into popularizing the project's ideology among a wider audience. However, in order to reach the provinces, the group of top online propagandists was diluted with lesser known, but very hardworking local bloggers. They have their own resource – local fame and authority.
"If we project this onto the media, then regional media have always been and will always be popular. If people talk to you about how you live in a place, in Zhodzina, or, say, Liakhavichy, or elsewhere, of course, any local influencers will be popular. Sure, they won't have a million [subscribers], they'll have 100,000 or 10,000 or 2,000 in their village, but they'll still have them. Of course, this is an absolutely correct move by the regime”, says Nadzeya Belakhvostsik.
One of such bloggers is Miss Homel Katsiaryna Pshentsava.
Katsiaryna Pshentsava at the Unity Marathon. Source: @katti.miss.psh Instagram account
She has only 11.8 thousand followers on her Instagram, but she has been producing content from the Unity Marathon events like a machine gun. In her social media profile we found dozens of posts and hundreds of stories with detailed reviews of Belarusian state enterprises she visited as part of the campaign, videos of concerts at workshops and the "Time Has Chosen Us" event, interviews with state publications, photos with propagandists and local celebrities.
Among the regular “guest performers” in cities and villages, Buro also noticed Barysau resident Katsiaryna Zalynskaya.
Katsiaryna Zalynskaya at the Unity Marathon. Source: @koshka.beauty Instagram account
Her total audience on Instagram and TikTok is about 100 thousand subscribers, and her main social media profile is mom-inspired content, reviews, and unboxings. Katsiaryna works as a teacher and, judging by her pages, she fervently supports Lukashenko and records patriotic videos to quotes from the “gaffer”.
On her TikTok, she willingly reviews companies and records “smart insights” she gets from lectures by Belarusian propagandists. In addition, Katsiaryna reveals behind-the-scenes details of the event, filming the unpacking of gifts given by factories to marathon participants and reviewing the hotels where bloggers are staying. The sincerity of her commitment to the current government and the awkward spontaneity of her blog, even in the context of covering the marathon, are clearly working and bearing fruit in a growing audience and discussions in the comments. Some of her videos collect tens and even hundreds of thousands of views. For example, a TikTok video where a military brass band performs the soundtrack to the The Boy’s Word TV series in Orsha got 600 thousand views.
Buro journalist managed to talk to several bloggers who covered the Unity Marathon. We will not name them in this article to exclude persecution of these influencers by the Belarusian authorities.
According to the bloggers, they received an invitation to take part in the Unity Marathon from employees of Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya via social networks. Some were noticed back on the BlogBy forum, from which Buro can conclude that this gathering of bloggers, initiated by the Ministry of Information, could have had the character of a hidden pre-casting for the Unity Marathon.
Online influencers interviewed by Buro claim the organizers did not put forward any requirements for content but later asked them for reach statistics. In addition, all the bloggers assured our journalist that they did not receive any fees for participating in the Unity Marathon. At the same time, Muzykalnaya Mediakompaniya took on the costs of transportation, accommodation, and food for the participants.
The influencers further shared their impressions of participating in the campaign with Buro. According to them, they were pleasantly surprised not only by the excellent organization, but also grateful for the opportunity to see many of the country’s sights and the behind-the-scenes work of enterprises.
NO MATTER IF YOU VOTE OR NOT, YOU’LL STILL GET “PARADISE”!
In addition to blogger reviews, discussions with Deputy Minister of Education Katsiaryna Piatruckaya were arranged for the young electorate. The meetings are called “NON-boring NONlectures”. There, Piatruckaya explains to students what “vote” is and how important it is to “vote wisely".
The marathon program also includes an event called Significant Meeting, an informal conversation between residents of the provinces and invited guests on a specific topic. Discussions range from understanding heroism to the impact of technology on consciousness. The speakers are mainly officials and propagandists. For example, TV anchor Ihar Tur told residents of Baranavichy that Lukashenko’s dictatorship is “the most acceptable form of government for the Slavs", and the chairperson of the Belarusian Cycling Federation Natallia Tsylinskaya, a mother of many children, expressed the opinion that whipping punishment for children was abolished too early.
The final chord of the two-day program of the Unity Marathon in each city are the large-scale gala concerts "Time Has Chosen Us", which begin with the composition of the same name. The authors and performers are spouses Yulia Bykava and Yauhen Aleynik, who are behind the making of the “immortal hit” “We Shall Not Give Up the Country We Love”.
Yulia Bykava and Yauhen Aleynik at the concert Time Has Chosen Us. Source: belta.by
The organizers then call some official on stage to give a heartfelt speech dedicated to the region where the concert is taking place. Sometimes the speakers get carried away and forget that everything is happening "as if" it were not a propaganda campaign in support of Lukashenko.
“It is a great honor for me to take part in the Unity Marathon. Unity during an election campaign is oxygen, it’s what we need to survive", former head of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna let it slip at a concert in Babrujsk.
Lidziya Yarmoshyna at the Unity Marathon. Source: sb.by
Aleksandr Lukashenko considers the Mahilou region his little homeland. It seems that the strength of this region, the strength of the roots of this land, from which the president has never separated, gives him the opportunity to effectively govern our republic for 30 years now, while remaining a true people's president – our gaffer, who understands the problems of ordinary people and solves them quickly and effectively. The people of Mahilou have never disappointed our leader, and I believe he will never disappoint you either", stressed the head of Lukashenko’s Administration Dzmitry Krutoy at a concert in Mahilou.
Dzmitry Krutoy at the Unity Marathon. Source: belta.by
The fiery speeches of officials are followed by a speech by Mikalai Lukashenko and his mentor Alena Astashkina-Mysliuchyk.
Following Lukashenko Jr.’s musical sketches, the program increasingly takes on a military-patriotic tone.
"To our great regret, to our heartache, our brothers, our relatives – our Ukrainian neighbors – went down this path [of war]. They rushed into the Garden of Eden in search of lace underwear, but found only death, pain, destruction, destroyed cities, hundreds of thousands of dead bodies and millions of refugees, and impenetrable darkness and sorrow. And for over 30 years now, our loving gaffer has been protecting, preserving and shielding us from all of this!” thundered Ryhor Azaronak at a concert in Mahilou.
Ryhor Azaronak at the Unity Marathon. Source: sb.by
The military-patriotic section is followed by a sentiment-patriot-esque rhetoric with flattering phrases like "every sandpiper is great in his own swamp", summarized by reflections on how Belarus "flourished and transformed" under Lukashenko, and then a section glorifying the personality cult of the "strong manager. The essential components are compositions dedicated to Lukashenko personally: “Ballad of a Dictator” and “Our Gaffer is Cool!” The latter, by the way, is performed by employees of regional security agencies accompanied by a selection of videos featuring Lukashenko, and the audience in the hall is required to stand up and wave “banners”.
“For 30 years we've been living in a sovereign, independent state. For 30 years we have been building the Republic of Belarus together with our President. We are building it with our soul, we are building it with our heart, that's why it is beautiful and beloved. And addressing the inhabitants of the Dnieper region, our guests, I would like to ask the audience: Do we love the Mahilou region? – Yes! – Do we love Mahilou? – Yes! – Are we with the president? – Yes! – Do we need this? – Yes! – Time has chosen us! – Yes!” – chanted the head of the Mahilou Regional Executive Committee Anatol Isachenka together with the audience.
Anatol Isachenka at the Unity Marathon. Source: sb.by
CELEBRATING ON THE HOUSE... BUT WHOSE?
Buro asked experts whether the Unity Marathon can be considered a campaign in support of Lukashenko.
“For any kind of call to take place, it doesn't have to be shouting or direct. Basically, what is forbidden by the law are events that are intended to benefit a certain candidate. If this candidate is presented in a strictly positive light, if the development of Belarus in the last 25-30 years is presented as directly connected with the rule of a certain person, and also only in an exclusively positive light, then in my opinion the answer to this question is quite obvious: [The Unity Marathon] is pure election campaigning", says election expert and author of the Sprava Vybaru project Aliaksandr Shlyk, who headed the election department of the OSCE ODIHR.
Belarusian politician Anatol Liabiedka also believes that the Unity Marathon is nothing more than an election campaign devoted to one specific candidate:
“[The Unity Marathon] is campaigning. This marathon takes place in full accordance with a special manual: there is no war as long as Lukashenko exists, there are traditional values in Belarus, and it's all thanks to him. And these narratives are being repeated by different mouths during this marathon: local officials are talking about it, and that counts as campaigning”.
Buro contacted the leadership of the Central Election Commission to find out how the agency feels about the fact that campaigning for candidate Lukashenko has been in full swing in the country for several months now. The chairman of the commission Ihar Karpenka and his deputy Aliaksei Bashan hung up as soon as our journalist introduced himself and asked his question. The Secretary of the Central Election Commission Alena Baldouskaya asked to call back the next day and would not pick up the phone after that.
We also called Minister of Information Marat Markau, but he refused to talk to the Buro's journalist:
"There is no such publication [Buro]!"
Once again, the same question arises: why is the campaign of a presidential candidate, albeit having run seven times before, financed by the State Budget, that is by our taxes?
“In Belarus, the law states that all expenses for an election campaign must come from the candidate's campaign fund. A candidate can invest their own money in this fund or collect money from voters. In addition, the state provides some free resources: publication in print media or free airtime for speeches. Although Lukashenko reports that he has quite a lot of campaign funds in this fund, their source is not entirely transparent. Most of the money spent on Lukashenko's de facto election campaign is state money. The Unity Marathon is organised on public money, and that is directly prohibited by law", Aliaksandr Shlyk explained to Buro.
And the cost of the marathon is spiraling: according to the tenders discovered by Zerkalo, just one concert in Mahilou cost us at least almost 690 thousand Belarusian rubles. And there were already 12 such concerts!
"Lukashenko's campaign fund is the country's budget. After all, he is the person who controls all the finances, and no one is going to keep track of the expenditures: neither the parliament, nor the prosecutor's office, nor any other security agency. The so-called ‘presidential’ candidate Lukashenko has unlimited financial resources. The ‘looting’ of the budget is the motivation. Lukashenko needs to provide incentives for part of the so-called ‘state apparatus’", shares his belief Anatol Liabedzka.
We also turned to experts for explanations: why is the Unity Marathon and the illusion of an “election race” needed if the outcome of the “election” is predetermined?
“This is done in order to open up some possibilities for normalizing relations with the West or even with countries that maintain a semi-neutral position. For all of them it is very important to have a formal mark that an election took place and supposedly this person defeated his opponents in an election and was elected by the people. And such fake elections are intended to serve as a formal reason to turn the page with many people. It is used by those who want to establish relations with Lukashenko. If there was no election, they would have nothing to refer to. I think that's the main reason: they just have to be held, and if they have to be held, things need to be performed", says Aliaksandr Shlyk.
“Lukashenko was deeply traumatized by the events of 2020. Not only because of the protests, but also because he was stunned to realize that he was no longer the "people's president" he thought he was. He truly believed that the people loved and supported him. However, 2020 has shattered that illusion, as he's now trying to win back the people's love in a way that makes sense to him. He really wants to have a majority vote for him. So, unlike 2020, he is actively campaigning", believes political scientist Valer Karbalevich.
Therefore, according to experts, the Unity Marathon is a full-fledged pre-election campaign held in support of Aleksandr Lukashenko. Moreover, campaigning for the “people’s choice” began long before the deadline officially permitted by law and with budget money: in any democratic country, such a candidate would have been subject to harsh sanctions, experts say.
“This is punishable by up to and including withdrawing the candidate from the election, that is, deregistration. In other words, this is a very serious violation of electoral legislation", concluded Aliaksandr Shlyk.