{"id":528924,"date":"2026-03-27T13:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=528924"},"modified":"2026-03-27T14:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:27:26","slug":"radio-svaboda-identifies-who-filmed-belarusian-freedom-day-protests-in-vilnius-for-state-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/radio-svaboda-identifies-who-filmed-belarusian-freedom-day-protests-in-vilnius-for-state-propaganda","title":{"rendered":"Radio Svaboda Identifies Who Filmed Belarusian Freedom Day Protests In Vilnius For State Propaganda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Radio Svaboda has identified individuals who filmed Belarusian Freedom Day rallies in Vilnius, footage that was later used by Belarusian state propaganda accompanied by threats against participants.<\/p>\n

Several young people were noticed by protesters on March 25, who alerted the police. Officers checked their documents but found no grounds for further action.<\/p>\n

According to Svaboda, the footage was filmed by young Ukrainians. Journalists identified two of them \u2014 Anna B.<\/b>, a student at the European Humanities University, and Mykola Bohatyr<\/b>, who agreed to speak with reporters.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old moved to Lithuania in 2022 from Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region and is currently studying remotely at a Ukrainian university in a media-related field. He confirmed that his footage was later shown in a program by Raman Pratasevich<\/b>.<\/p>\n

He said he knew about the rally and planned to attend, but was also encouraged by an online acquaintance who told him there was paid work available \u2014 filming footage at the protest.<\/p>\n

He attended the rally with a friend, and later another acquaintance joined them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked where the footage would go, why, what kind of editorial office. My online acquaintance said it was for Novaya Gazeta Europe, for an editor named Irina. That was all I needed to know. I googled what Novaya Gazeta Europe is. I saw it\u2019s a reputable outlet, that there is such an editor named Irina \u2014 so why not try? Especially since they promised $70,\u201d<\/i> he told Svaboda.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that journalist Irina Garina does work for Novaya Gazeta Europe, but her name has previously been used in fake outreach attempts. For example, a fake \u201cIrina Garina\u201d had contacted former KYKY.org editor-in-chief Nasta Rahatko<\/b> and attempted to arrange an interview with Pavel Latushka<\/b>, among others.<\/p>\n

Bohatyr said his online acquaintance was named Ilona, whom he met in the game Dota. He has never met her in person and knows little about her, though she may live in Riga. She had previously offered him similar assignments, including filming views of Vilnius and staged scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, you\u2019re some kind of baron, you have a girlfriend, and you show that you have a lot of everything \u2014 you know what I mean? A lot of money, a lot of powder, flour,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

For filming at the March 25 rallies, Bohatyr and his friend received $70 each via cryptocurrency wallets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were shouting \u2018Zhyve Belarus!\u2019, \u2018Glory to Ukraine!\u2019 and so on. In the morning there were no problems. In the evening \u2014 yes, people started looking at us suspiciously. Honestly, I didn\u2019t think it would turn out like this. When I found out it was used on a propaganda channel, I honestly wouldn\u2019t want this to happen again,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

He also expressed concern for the people who appeared in the footage, noting he had been told they might face consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my part, I apologize. I never thought I would get caught up like this, especially putting other people at risk. Reputation matters to me, which is why I\u2019m speaking with you now. I definitely did not want to present myself like this. As a person from Ukraine, I would not want to represent my country in such a compromised way,\u201d<\/i> he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radio Svaboda has identified individuals who filmed Belarusian Freedom Day rallies in Vilnius, footage that was later used by Belarusian state propaganda accompanied by threats against participants. Several young people were noticed by protesters on March 25, who alerted the police. Officers checked their documents but found no grounds for further action. According to Svaboda, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":528923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/69c669a1a419a.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Radio Svaboda Identifies Who Filmed Belarusian Freedom Day Protests In Vilnius For State Propaganda"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142338,143127,143090],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-society","category-politics"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}