From radio to regional papers: People with security backgrounds increasingly head Homel media outlets

Han­na Plakhat­niuk, a jour­nal­ist and pro­pa­gan­dist known for her close ties to secu­ri­ty agen­cies, has been appoint­ed head of Homel City Radio. Her appoint­ment was approved by the head of the region­al exec­u­tive com­mit­tee.

Han­na Plakhat­niuk

A philol­o­gist by train­ing, Han­na Plakhat­niuk worked as a cor­re­spon­dent at the city radio sta­tion, then at the region­al depart­ment of the State Foren­sic Exam­i­na­tions Com­mit­tee, and as a pub­lic rela­tions spe­cial­ist at the Homel Region­al Phil­har­mon­ic. Her move to the Foren­sic Exam­i­na­tions Com­mit­tee was explained by her “inter­est in work­ing in a para­mil­i­tary struc­ture, even as a civil­ian.”

In 2023, Plakhat­niuk was a pre­sen­ter at the state broad­cast­er Belarus 4 Homel, and at that time pub­licly boast­ed of com­men­da­tions and let­ters of appre­ci­a­tion from the KGB and Inte­ri­or Min­istry depart­ments of the Homel Region­al Exec­u­tive Com­mit­tee “for assis­tance,” accord­ing to the Homel inde­pen­dent online out­let Shtodzen.

Plakhat­niuk’s appoint­ment is not an iso­lat­ed case of peo­ple con­nect­ed to secu­ri­ty agen­cies mov­ing into lead­er­ship posi­tions in state media. Shtodzen pre­vi­ous­ly report­ed that police lieu­tenant colonel Vital Pry­s­tro­mau was appoint­ed deputy edi­tor-in-chief of Gomel­skiye Vedo­mosti. And in Raha­chou, the edi­tor of the region­al news­pa­per Svo­bod­noye Slo­vo, Zhan­na Shabasha­va, was also drawn from secu­ri­ty cir­cles — she pre­vi­ous­ly worked at the press cen­ter of the Inte­ri­or Min­istry’s Depart­ment of Inter­nal Affairs of the Homel Region­al Exec­u­tive Com­mit­tee.