Son of a Belarusian-speaking writer, once Lukashenka's press secretary. Five facts about the new Minister of Information
The editor-in-chief of the presidential newspaper "SB", Dzmitry Zhuk, was promoted despite having failed in his previous work.
Dzmitry Zhuk. Photo: zviazda.by
Interlocutors of "Nasha Niva" believe that Zhuk's appointment is not Lukashenka's hope for the development of the media sphere led by some potential reformer, but a banal need to fill a vacancy that arose after the ambitious Marat Markau moved to the neighboring Ministry of Culture.
The Ministry of Information is one of the smallest ministries in terms of the number of employees, if not the smallest. Zhuk will be responsible for state newspapers, publishing houses, printing houses, and will oversee non-state media that remain in the country.
Born into a family of a Belarusian-speaking writer, but despises the Belarusian language
The 55-year-old propagandist comes from the village of Letkaŭshchyna, Slutsk district, Minsk region — this is the small homeland of his father, the famous writer Ales Zhuk. He graduated from the philological faculty of BSU and worked in numerous publishing houses and magazines.
Ales Zhuk wrote his works in Belarusian and also translated Russian classics into his native language. It is noteworthy that Zhuk Sr. was a member of the non-state Union of Belarusian Writers.
Ales Zhuk died in 2022.
Zhuk Jr. followed in his father's footsteps, also graduating from the philological faculty of BSU — he studied to be a teacher of the Belarusian language. After university, he worked for two years in his specialty at Minsk school-gymnasium №199, and then went to a more lucrative place.
First, he managed to find some sort of position in the publishing center of the National Bank, and then ended up in the Belarusian editorial office of the Russian information agency "Interfax". At the same time, Dzmitry Zhuk stopped using the Belarusian language — he never uses it in his articles or broadcasts, even when a Belarusian-speaking interlocutor is sitting opposite him.
Led BelTA to the forefront
At one time, Dzmitry Zhuk headed the press service of Aliaksandr Lukashenka — from 1999 to 2003. At that time, this position was more technical; Zhuk did not have such political powers as Natallia Eismant does now.
In 2003, Zhuk was appointed director of BelTA. He replaced the Russian Aleh Praliaskouski, who became deputy head of Lukashenka's Administration, and later was also Minister of Information. Their life paths are somewhat similar — once you get into the propaganda machine, you stay in it no matter what, even if you jump from one position to another.
It must be admitted that it was during Zhuk's time that BelTA became prominent among state propaganda media. Previously, there was an absurd practice where operational information from Belarusian state bodies was first published by Russian "Interfax", and only then was it picked up by local media.
Failed at SB
In 2018, Zhuk was appointed editor-in-chief of "Sovetskaya Belorussiya", whose longtime head Pavel Yakubovich was effectively sent into retirement.
Did the new chief manage to develop the publication? Overall — no.
Detailed financial reports of the holding are not published, but in this regard, the situation most likely looks more or less attractive. Thanks to forced subscription and involuntary sponsorship from private businesses, which have to place advertisements in state media, "SB" actually stays afloat.
Naturally, the circulation has fallen, but there is nothing surprising in this — paper newspapers are in crisis worldwide. When Zhuk took over "SB", the daily issue printed about 200 thousand copies, now it's about 130 thousand. Again, in a market situation, without administrative resources, the numbers would have dropped many times further.
Attempts to develop other newspapers of the holding completely failed. "Respublika" did not become the Financial Times despite the money invested, "Znamya Yunosti" never reached young people.
There's also nothing to boast about online — "SB"'s views are lower than those of the "banned" independent media blocked in Belarus.
Does "SB" lead the way in setting the country's agenda? Also no. Natallia Eismant keeps all the most important exclusives in her "Pool of the First", security officials' leaks are broadcast in prime time on TV channels. And "SB" is left only to retell what has been seen.
Under Zhuk, the level of hatred on the newspaper's pages clearly increased, marginal authors, recruited by Yakubovich at one time, gained freedom of action. However, few people pay attention to the graphomania of Andrei Mukavozchyk or Lyudmila Hladkaya anymore; they also lost to their colleagues from TV propaganda.
Under European Union sanctions
The new Minister of Information, along with other propagandists and security officials, was sanctioned by the European Union for his activities.
"These propagandists deliberately present false information to Belarusian society about repressions carried out by state structures, disseminate disinformation from both Belarusian and Russian authorities, and incite hostility towards the democratic opposition and civil society," the sanctions against individuals like Dzmitry Zhuk were justified.
Zhuk and his colleagues voice their thoughts on the situation in Belarus and the world weekly in the "Editors' Club" press program — one of the lowest-rated programs on Belarusian television. Its only benefit is the legal opportunity to pay bonuses to the participants of the talk show.
"If you hear the words 'human rights', followed by some stories about your homeland Belarus, know: this person is an enemy of our country. Our supporters avoid these terms," he stated on air in 2023. And democracy and freedom of speech, he claimed, are mechanisms with which the West destroys the statehood of other countries.
If this broadcast were aired now, in 2026, no one would notice the difference. Zhuk says roughly the same propaganda banalities every week.
The propagandist is considered the deputy chairman of the standing commission of the Council of the Republic on international affairs and national security. He also joined Lukashenka's party "Belaya Rus".
Hired sons to work at BelTA
Zhuk, it seems, has not grown up to a house in Drazdy. According to BelPol, the Zhuk family owns several apartments in the capital — one of them, near the Kavalskaya Slabada metro station, is registered to Zhuk himself. Another apartment, in Malinauka, belongs to his wife.
The couple had two sons. Interestingly, both at one time got jobs at their father's BelTA.
It is known that the older son later ended up at the IT company EPAM, founded by Arkadiy Dobkin, who, after the 2020 elections, along with other leaders of Belarusian technology companies, signed an open letter calling for the release of political prisoners and new elections. In 2021, Lukashenka made baseless accusations against Dobkin and EPAM employees of financing protests.
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