Lukashenka’s Propaganda Officials Confront Each Other
- 25.07.2022, 10:00
Mutual suspicions and accusations.
Not everything is good among Lukashenka's supporters. Svetlana Varyanitsa, an official from Belaya Rus, and pro-Russian activist Olga Bondareva have been "fighting" in Hrodna for a year. MOST shares the story of the propagandists' conflict.
Wilted flowers and the village
The conflict between Svetlana Varyanitsa and Olga Bondareva erupted in the summer of 2021.
Svetlana Varyanitsa, deputy head of the Hrodna branch of Belaya Rus, became active in her social networks after the protests in the summer of 2020. She has become one of the brightest among Hrodna pro-government bloggers, and Belarusian bloggers, too. First of all, because she works for the state apparatus.
Bondareva is also a bright figure in the pro-government circles of Hrodna. She actively writes denunciations on everyone and everything; because of her letters, an impressive number of criminal cases were initiated against opponents of Lukashenka's regime.
By the summer of 2021, Varyanitsa and Bondareva became prominent figures and started to fight for the title of the best patriot. The conflict first flared up after the publication of Olga Bondareva about wilted flowers near one of the monuments. The activist criticized the authorities. Varyanitsa joined her in the commentary, explaining the wilted flowers by the heat.
After that, Bondareva called Varyanitsa a "village girl" in one of her videos. The official responded with posts on social networks:
- Apparently, this woman thinks I am ashamed of my peasant roots? All of Belarus has peasant roots!
Varyanitsa also criticized the activist's radical statements, where she wanted to put priest Georgi Roy on a chain. According to her, this way Lukashenka's supporters won't differ from the supporters of the change of power.
That was the end of the crisis between Hrodna propagandists.
Hot autumn
In the autumn of 2021, Olga Bondareva again started to "attack" Svetlana Varyanitsa. She said Varyanitsa was "freaking out in Belarus and virtual reality". Then Varyanitsa, among other Hrodna officials, was accused of inaction and over-familiarity during the August protests.
Bondareva also thought that since Varyanitsa's address was not on the cyber partisans' list. It meant she could be connected to the protesters.
At the end of September 2021, Bondareva issued a whole statement, which was addressed to Varyanitsa and "deputy" Lilia Kiryak. She called them "hysterical officials". Varyanitsa published reposts of notes in which Bondareva was called a "lying hypocrite".
In short, what are their complaints about each other?
The official and the activist had been trying to "poke" at each other through their Telegram chats for almost a year. And during that time, it becomes clear what the main and probably insoluble claims of the propagandists to each other are. The war for the title of the best patriot turns into mutual accusations in connection with the Belarusian protest.
Bondareva believes Varyanitsa is just an ordinary official who is trying to stay in power as long as possible. Perhaps, if the proponents of change were to come to power, Varyanitsa would support them, just as she supports Lukashenka now. Bondareva also repeatedly claimed that Varyanitsa supported non-state organizations, such as Gender Perspectives. The activist also accuses the official of being loyal to various minorities.
According to Varyanitsa, Bondareva is unnecessarily radical, which brings her closer to the protesters. Such radicalism of Bondareva harms the local authorities of Hrodna, who would like to remain without the influence of Minsk. In short, the longest way round is the shortest way home clearly the principle of Varyanitsa bothers Bondareva.