The blog Information Policy has been conducting regular monitoring of Belarusian YouTube channels since September 2020. Colleagues shared data about posts that were published in 2023 and gathered the most views.
The database contains about 15,000 posts, placed on more than 500 YouTube channels, which produce content related to Belarus, and collectively have gathered over 500 million views.
From these, we will select thirty with the highest number of views:
| Publication Date | Title | Channel | Number of Views | ||
| 1 |  |
17.01.2023 | A Russian decently responds to a Russophobe in chat roulette | SB TV | 10,544,238 |
| 2 |  |
16.02.2023 | Lukashenko to BBC: Well, that’s going to be a full-blown fight! | Belta | 7,775,939 |
| 3 |  |
17.07.2023 | Ukrainians test Russian armor for strength and are wildly surprised | SB TV | 7,471,387 |
| 4 |  |
14.07.2023 | Wife and mother in tears of happiness – Russian soldier unexpectedly drops in from the front | SB TV | 7,246,427 |
| 5 |  |
15.06.2023 | Volodya or scum? Lukashenko answered how he and Putin relate to Zelensky | SB TV | 6,118,471 |
| 6 |  |
12.07.2023 | Oh, the Poles came up with, not everything is bad with them! How Lukashenko was treated to flaki and sultys | SB TV | 6,042,746 |
| 7 |  |
03.04.2023 | This is why the Ukrainian army is losing – admission from a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Artemovsk | SB TV | 6,042,746 |
| 8 |  |
17.11.2023 | Lukashenko: “How is a diesel engine different from a gasoline engine???” | The First National Channel of Belarusian Radio | 5,932,419 |
| 9 |  |
18.07.2023 | For Angelina, who lost her parents on the Crimean Bridge, Russian helicopter pilots go into battle | SB TV | 5,419,224 |
| 10 |  |
18.02.2023 | Lukashenko honestly answers journalists’ questions: I see old acquaintances here! // A BIG INTERVIEW | Belta | 4,987,957 |
| 11 |  |
10.04.2023 | Ukrainian soldiers do not believe in their counteroffensive – correspondence in an abandoned mobile phone | SB TV | 4,635,089 |
| 12 |  |
14.09.2023 | The mortar jammed, and the soldier fixes it with a shovel! Weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not fire | Belta | 2,773,096 |
| 13 |  |
24.06.2023 | ⚡️ Lukashenko made a deal with Prigozhin | Wagner PMC returns to the camps | Latest news | CTVBY | 2,768,117 |
| 14 |  |
18.02.2023 | Lukashenko: Zelensky is just scum! I thought Ukraine needed peace! | Terrorist attack in Machulishchy | CTVBY | 2,751,640 |
| 15 |  |
02.03.2023 | Ukrainians left a terrible mess in a German’s apartment | SB TV | 2,703,606 |
| 16 |  |
27.12.2023 | Lukashenko dances the waltz! // New Year’s ball at the Palace of Independence! // December, 2023 | Belta | 2,501,288 |
| 17 |  |
18.07.2023 | A Russian woman spied for the SBU – surveillance footage and arrest of the traitor | SB TV | 2,468,436 |
| 18 |  |
27.06.2023 | Statements by Lukashenko! / About negotiations with Prigozhin, the future of PMC, Putin, and the monument | Belta | 2,451,165 |
| 19 |  |
14.04.2023 | Ukrainian fugitives are already being expelled from Poland for mobilization? | SB TV | 2,107,017 |
| 20 |  |
01.01.2023 | Why is Russia moving equipment through Belarus? | We’ll explain now | MIRROR | 2,010,936 |
| 21 |  |
03.03.2023 | Ukrainians massively reproach the government – why does the war only concern us? | SB TV | 1,996,765 |
| 22 |  |
14.07.2023 | Wagner PMC instructors are already in Belarus | VoenTV of Belarus | 1,927,140 |
| 23 |  |
08.02.2023 | TERRIFYING CONSEQUENCES OF EARTHQUAKES IN TURKEY. Rescue operations continue. Panorama | ATN: news of Belarus and the world | 1,821,675 |
| 24 |  |
08.04.2023 | MONTYAN: “They, of course, are shocked!” // Ukraine: what’s next? // Dollar from chat // Corrupt elites | SB TV | 1,784,058 |
| 25 |  |
06.01.2023 | Arrival of a train with military personnel and military equipment from Russia | VoenTV of Belarus | 1,692,573 |
| 26 |  |
16.02.2023 | Lukashenko to Biden: From Poland here is close, I’ll send a plane, “Boeing”! We’ll welcome! Even Putin will fly in! | Belta | 1,646,499 |
| 27 |  |
02.06.2023 | Fursov: THEY want a rematch? | About grandpa Scholz, GMOs, and a “bright” future | Belta | 1,645,859 |
| 28 |  |
20.01.2023 | Lukashenko: Well, you installed those pipes! Do they shoot? // Exhibition of scientific achievements | Belta | 1,638,400 |
| 29 |  |
05.04.2023 | Spouses spied for Ukraine at a Russian military enterprise – arrest | SB TV | 1,558,694 |
| 30 |  |
06.04.2023 | An 11-year-old girl defends Lavra while the Ukrainian authorities burn and demolish churches | SB TV | 1,548,975 |
The subscriber structure of Belarusian YouTube channels with state ownership:
- Belta. Total number of subscribers – 1.5 million. From Belarus – 13.09%, from Russia – 59.48%
- ATN: news of Belarus and the world. Total number of subscribers – 1.1 million. From Belarus – 13.47%, from Russia – 55.18%
- CTVBY. Total number of subscribers – 821 thousand. From Belarus – 21.95%, from Russia – 45.69%
- SB TV. Total number of subscribers – 792 thousand. From Belarus – 10.66%, from Russia – 62.06%
- The First National Channel of Belarusian Radio. Total number of subscribers – 310 thousand. From Belarus – 17.39%, from Russia – 57.14%
- VoenTV of Belarus. Total number of subscribers – 212 thousand. From Belarus – 18.61%, from Russia – 37.33%
It is considered that only 10% of subscribers watch the majority of videos on the channel they are subscribed to.
It can be assumed that thanks to recommendations, these videos allow to bypass sanctions imposed on Russian propaganda channels.
Additional evidence is that videos prepared by Russian propaganda, promoting Russian narratives aimed against Ukraine, Ukrainians, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), gathered significantly more views than even the “peacekeeping” actions of the Belarusian authorities in the case of the armed uprising by Wagner PMC.
Conclusion: Belarusian state YouTube channels industrially produce disinformation.
They provide informational support to the actions of the aggressor country – the Russian Federation, which has carried out a full-scale invasion of the territory of a neighboring state – Ukraine. In all publications about Ukraine, including long and short interviews with the head of the current regime, there are elements of disinformation:
All these channels are marked as Red Alert in terms of the information security of Belarus.
