Belarus Segodnya Publishing House
Sovetskaya Belorussiya (known in Belarusian as Belarus Segodnya) is the largest Russian-language daily newspaper in Belarus and one of the country’s most influential state media outlets. With a history stretching back to 1927, it has long been the flagship print organ of the government. Since 2018, the title has been published under the aegis of the Belarus Segodnya publishing house, which also oversees a portfolio of other periodicals and operates the radio station Alfa.
Media assets
Publishing: Sovetskaya Belorussiya (Belarus Segodnya), Respublika, Narodnya Gazeta, Selskaya Gazeta, Znamya Yunosti
Radio: Alfa Radio
Online: Sb.by
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
The publishing house Belarus Segodnya is wholly owned and managed by the Presidential Administration of Belarus, which directly appoints the newspaper’s senior editorial and managerial staff. Local journalists and media experts interviewed in May 2024 confirm that the newspaper remains tightly tethered to the state, with its governance structure designed to ensure alignment with presidential priorities rather than editorial independence.
Dzmitry Zhuk has served as Editor-in-Chief of Belarus Segodnya since 2018, following the long tenure of Pavel Yakubovich. A career state journalist and media manager, Zhuk previously headed the state news agency BelTA, where he cultivated close ties with the Presidential Administration. Under his leadership, Belarus Segodnya has become even more tightly aligned with official narratives, cementing its reputation as the principal mouthpiece of the Lukashenko regime.
In 2024, Zhuk was placed under European Union and Swiss sanctions for his role in disseminating state propaganda and legitimising authoritarian governance. Despite this international censure, he has retained his post, continuing to oversee one of Belarus’s most powerful state media institutions and shaping its overtly pro-government editorial line.
Source of funding and budget
The newspaper’s financial lifeline is drawn primarily from allocations in the state budget. This guaranteed public subsidy is complemented, though to a far lesser degree, by advertising revenues. Media observers note that in recent years, commercial income has stagnated, reflecting both the weakness of Belarus’s advertising market and the paper’s overwhelmingly propagandistic profile, which discourages independent advertisers. According to industry experts consulted in 2024, the reliance on direct state support remains absolute, and no shift toward diversified revenue streams has been reported.
Editorial independence
Belarus Segodnya is widely regarded as the regime’s propaganda channel. Its editorial line is tightly scripted by the Presidential Administration, leaving little to no room for journalistic autonomy. A content analysis of its main digital portal carried out for this report in March–April 2023 revealed an extremely high density of pro-presidential coverage, with narratives closely mirroring official state discourse. This trend persisted into 2024–2025, particularly during the coverage of Belarus’s alignment with Russia in the Ukraine conflict and the presidential administration’s portrayal of Western sanctions as an “information war.”
No statutory framework or independent oversight mechanism exists in Belarus that could safeguard editorial independence at Belarus Segodnya. On the contrary, its institutional design and output confirm its role as a propaganda arm of the state rather than as an independent journalistic entity.
August 2025