What others are writing about Belarus – 9 November 2026

In brief

• Wiesti.ru (pro-Kremlin propaganda media) reported the death of Swiatłana Wujaczicz, former soloist of the State Dance Ensemble of Belarus and People's Artist of Belarus, at the age of 89; according to the portal, the information was reportedly published by the Belarusian Ministry of Culture on Telegram.
• Wiesti.ru reports that Wujaczicz worked in the ensemble from 1960 and, after ending her career as a dancer, was an assistant to the choreographer; a farewell ceremony is to take place on 11 November at the Belarusian State Philharmonic.
• Rossijskaja Gazieta (pro-Kremlin propaganda media), in an article on the evacuation of Belarus's population in 1941–1943, questions the version of a telephone agreement between Ponomarenko and Stalin on 23 June 1941.
• According to Belarusian historian G. D. Knatko, this account is of little credibility, and the evacuation from Minsk was largely spontaneous, without control by the authorities.
• Historian I. J. Voronkova points out that in the first days of the war the rail transport was destroyed and the documentation of the evacuation through the Minsk junction has not survived; the content of the Rossijskaja Gazieta text should not be treated as established fact.

Russian press

The Russian Wiesti.ru (pro-Kremlin propaganda media) reported that Swiatłana Wujaczicz, former soloist of the State Dance Ensemble of Belarus and People's Artist of Belarus, has died at the age of 89. According to the Kremlin propaganda narrative, the Belarusian Ministry of Culture reportedly announced her death on its Telegram channel. Wiesti.ru (pro-Kremlin propaganda media) states that Wujaczicz worked in the ensemble from 1960 and, after ending her career as a dancer, was an assistant to the choreographer, and that a farewell ceremony is to take place on 11 November at the Belarusian State Philharmonic. (Умерла экс-солистка Госансамбля танца Белоруссии Светлана Вуячич – Wiesti.ru (pro-Kremlin propaganda media))

Rossijskaja Gazieta (pro-Kremlin propaganda media) publishes an article on the evacuation of Belarus's population in 1941–1943, in which it questions the version of an alleged telephone agreement between Ponomarenko and Stalin on 23 June 1941. According to Belarusian historian G. D. Knatko, this account is of little credibility, and the evacuation from Minsk was largely spontaneous, without control by the authorities. At the same time, I. J. Voronkova points out that in the first days of the war the rail transport was destroyed and the documentation of the evacuation through the Minsk junction has not survived (Ценную вещь забыли при эвакуации из Минска в 1941-м, спецотряд не смог ее вернуть – Rossijskaja Gazieta (pro-Kremlin propaganda media)). Because this is Kremlin propaganda, the content of this text should not be treated as established fact.