Belarusian Investigative Center

💸 A Belarusian oligarch profits from a dissident passport project.

@belarusfiles.bsky.social' “Passportgate” follows the money from Lukashenko’s circle to a Lithuanian firm hired to help exiled Belarusians, revealing some connection: investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

#IJ4EU

A $35 Million Scheme: How Lukashenko’s Friends Got Rich at the Factory’s Expense Shell companies were supposed to help Grodno Azot bypass sanctions at minimal cost. As a result, the plant lost up to a third of its export revenue to the EU.

3/3 The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is investigating the above scheme according to sources cited by the Polish Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, a partner in this investigation. investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

2/3 Beneficiaries of these shell companies include proxies of Viktor Sheiman and Mikalai Varabei - sanctioned as Lukashenko’s wallets, as well as Dzmitry #Lukashenko - a son of Belarus’ authoritarian ruler.

1/3 Lukashenko’s proxies funneled $35 million in 2024 from the state owned Grodno Azot by inserting shell companies along the supply chain of the SOE’s #sanctions evading exports to the EU, BIC’s investigation reveals.

Life in the EU is a nightmare, according to Belarus disinformation

🏚️ Hopeless citizens living in chaos, betrayed by their immoral governments: Belarusian #propaganda has intensified its #disinformation attacks on #EU countries, with narratives shifting towards social & economic policies.

👉 Read the new investigation by @belarusfiles.bsky.social: loom.ly/JWSsF58

Fake about retro tractors in Lithuania from "ZhS Premium" Telegram channel presented the symbolic gesture of farmers as a sign of backwardness - the equipment was brought to the action intentionally.

"Their equipment is top-notch!" - authors of state-affiliated Telegram channel ZhS Premium quipped about #Lithuanian farmers. The sight of old tractors at a Vilnius protest set off some controversy. We've found that organizers deliberately brought vintage vehicles. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

Do Belarusian salaries really measure up to those in Europe? Examining the claim made on ONT The head of the entrepreneurs’ union on ONT claimed the average Belarusian salary is on par with Portugal’s. But a fact-check showed the actual gap is nearly twofold.

Belarusian average salaries have reached the level of #Portugal, said Alexander Kalinin, head of the Belarusian Entrepreneurs’ Union. Our fact-checking team set out to verify whether that’s true (spoiler - no). investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

Belarusian Fertilizer Company Dodging EU Sanctions, Leaked Documents Show The Belarusian Investigative Center has obtained documents revealing how the state-owned Grodno Azot company continues exports via Latvia.

A Belarusian state fertilizer company under EU sanctions has found a way around the export ban by leasing its production lines to intermediary firms that pose as manufacturers, according to the Belarusian Investigative Center @belarusfiles.bsky.social:

www.occrp.org/en/news/bela...

Sanctions evasion routes switch to Latvia as Poland tightens control BIC found out: 186,000 tonnes of Grodno Azot's $59 million worth of fertiliser in 2024 entered the EU through four gasket firms.

4/4 Read the full investigation here: investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

3/4 The Prime Minister of Latvia, in a comment to LSM, reacted to it by promising political support for decisive action against #sanctions evasion schemes. If Latvia takes the promised actions, this will finalise the “sealing” of the Belarus-EU border for Grodno Azot products.

2/4 At least 278 railcars carrying Belarusian fertilizers entered Latvia in 2025, bypassing EU sanctions imposed on state-owned Grodno Azot. This marks the first time in four years these products have entered #Latvia, with shipments later delivered to other EU member states.

1/4 After Lithuania and Poland cracked down on evasion schemes by #Belarus monopolist producer of nitrogen fertilisers, the routes switched to Latvia, a new investigation by BIC, ‪LSM and Rabochy Rukh reveals.

Secret Patients: Who was treated in Belarus’ hospitals during the Russian march on Kyiv BIC has verified data on hundreds of Russian soldiers who were treated in hospitals in Homel and Khoiniki. Among them are likely participants in the shootings of civilians.

4/4 Read the full text here: investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

3/4 Belarusian hospital staff were warned not to disclose any information under threat of retaliation. Legal experts say the scale and secrecy of this support may constitute grounds to strip Belarus of its neutral status under international law.

2/4 Some of these soldiers are suspected of participating in war crimes, including the killing of civilians. BIC proved this by matching names and injuries from hospital lists with battlefield documents and evidence earlier collected by Ukrainian forces and local residents.

‪1/4 Almost a thousand of wounded Russian soldiers were treated in Belarusian hospitals during the early months of the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, revealed BIC together with Ukrainian and Russian services of @rferl.org.web.brid.gy through a leaked Russian Ministry of Defense database.

NEW: The Telegram messaging app has a reputation for security — but Important Stories found that its technical infrastructure is run by a man whose companies closely collaborate with Russian intelligence services.

Meet Vladimir Vedeneev 👇

Fact Check: Video Game Footage Does NOT Show Actual Destruction of Russian Strategic Bombers
#CheckTok #FactCheck #RussianStrategicBombers #TUBombers #UkrainianFPVDrone #ARMA3
leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2...

Did Belarus surpass Poland in tourism attractiveness? Checking the rankings A Minsk-News anchor claimed that Belarus made the top 50 and surpassed Poland. The WTF team found Belarus’ actual ranking on the list.

Judging by the rankings, #Belarus is more appealing to tourists than #Poland, #Lithuania or #Latvia, boasted an anchor of the Minsk-News agency Viktoria Kirichenko. We decided to find out where Belarus really stands. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

Petrovsky's two fakes about Poland: GDP and wages Political analyst Pyotr Petrovsky called the past five years a disaster for Poland and claimed that Poles earn low incomes. The WTF team fact-checked his numbers.

Belarusian political analyst Pyotr Petrovsky claimed that Poland’s economy declined over the past five years and that average Polish wages aren’t much higher than in #Belarus. We have found that he used the wrong years and the wrong figures. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

A Fashionable Scheme: The Belarusian Company Bringing Luxury Goods to Russia - The Moscow Times An intermediary linked to a businessman close to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko imports luxury goods to Russia by reporting artificially low prices in customs documents to circumvent sancti...

Have you ever seen a brand-new, authentic Balenciaga jacket for $4? Or a Dolce & Gabbana quilted vest priced at $6.50?

These are the declared prices for luxury garments shipped by a Belarusian company from the EU to Russia to circumvent sanctions, @belarusfiles.bsky.social reports.

Avoiding sanctions: How Belarus provides expensive clothing to Russia BIC has found how Belarusian companies import luxury clothing from the EU to Russia and circumvent sanctions by using artificially low prices.

3/3 This is not its first appearance in sanctions-evasion schemes: previous BIC investigations exposed Exporttorg’s role in the illicit export of Western-made microchips and tires to Russia, some of which were destined for #military use. More here: investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

2/3 “OOO Torgovyi Dom Exporttorg”, a company linked to EU-sanctioned #Lukashenko “wallet” Alexander Zaytsev, declared Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana jackets in customs documents at prices as low as $4–6 per item, while their real price was far much higher.

1/3 A #Belarusian luxury pipeline funnelling high-end clothing into Russia at artificially low prices, bypassing #EU and US restrictions and slashing taxes, has been uncovered by the Belarusian Investigative Center and partners.

Shelter from Interpol: How a Finnish Criminal Found a New Life and Business in Belarus - The Moscow Times A Finnish businessman wanted in connection with one of the largest corruption scandals in Finland’s history has been quietly evading justice in Belarus for the past five years, according to a new inve...

A Finnish businessman wanted in connection with one of the largest corruption scandals in Finland’s history has been quietly evading justice in Belarus for the past five years, according to @belarusfiles.bsky.social.

Belarus 1 showed several companies in its report that are still up and running Europe has become a symbol of despair and bankruptcy, said Belarus 1 anchor Sergei Gusachenko, citing footage of closed Lithuanian factories as evidence. The Weekly Top Fake team looked into it and fo...

#Europe has become a symbol of despair and bankruptcy, said state TV channel #Belarus 1 anchor Sergei Gusachenko, citing footage of closed Lithuanian factories as evidence. We found some of them are still very much alive. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

Was May 9 ever banned in Slovakia? Fact-checking Gigin's claim Deputy Gigin claimed that Slovakia allowed celebrations of Victory Day. WTF checked whether a ban had ever existed.

In 2024, Slovak authorities lifted a ban on May 9 celebrations, claimed Belarus' House of Representatives member Vadim Gigin, describing how “the enemy failed to erase the memory.” We have investigated whether such a ban ever existed. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...

Charges Set to Expire for Finnish Fraud Case Fugitive, Police Say Arto Autio has been charged with fraud for his alleged role in a major embezzlement scandal in Finland.

Finland issued an international arrest warrant through Interpol for Arto Kalevi Autio, who fled fraud charges connected to a major embezzlement scandal.

But Autio could remain a free man if he is not arrested by the end of the year, @belarusfiles.bsky.social revealed www.occrp.org/en/news/char...

What Finnish criminal Arto Kalevi Autio is doing in Belarus and why Interpol is looking for him Finnish businessman Arto Kalevi Autio, who was on Europol's most wanted list back in 2024, has been living in Minsk for five years. New investigation by the BIC.

A mastermind behind multi-million-euro fraud schemes, once siphoning money from across the Baltic states and #Finland, Arto Kalevi Autio resides freely in Minsk despite both Europol and #Interpol issuing arrest warrants for him, BIC together with partners found. investigatebel.org/en/investiga...

Three out of four graduates in Europe jobless? Checking Yelfimov’s claim A Radio Minsk host claimed most young professionals in Europe can’t find work. WTF checked the European Union’s statistics.

The state has given young Belarusian professionals the gift of guaranteed employment after university, while in #Europe 75% of graduates are unemployed, said political analyst and host Vadim Yelfimov. We checked just how far off his numbers were. investigatebel.org/en/fakenews/...