Oleg Vitoldovich Proleskovsky ( ''Aleg Vitaldavich Pralyaskovski''; ''Oleg Vitoldovich Proleskovskiy''; born 1 October 1963) is a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian politician who was the

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

of Belarus.

Biography

O. Proleskovsky was born into a working-class family in

Zagorsk Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Сергиев Посад, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a city that is the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: The city contains the Trinity Lavra of St. Serg ...

(now Sergiev Posad) in the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. In 1985, he graduated from the

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

Air Defense and Rocket School of the

Air Defence Forces An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

. In 1998, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the

Belarusian State University The Belarusian State University (BSU) (, ; ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded on October 30, 1921. The university was ranked 387th in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. History 1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, ...

. He served in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. He held different posts in the Military Academy of Belarus in Minsk from 1990 through 2002. He headed the Analytical Division of the KGB of Belarus and was the Director-General of the

Belarusian Telegraph Agency The Belarusian Telegraph Agency or BelTA (, , БелТА) is the state-owned national news agency of the Republic of Belarus. It operates in Russian, Belarusian, English, German, Spanish, Polish and Chinese languages. Since 2018, the direct ...

. He was appointed Deputy Head of the Administration of the President in 2003, a post he held until 2007. He was the chief of the main ideological administration of the president of Belarus from 2007 to 2008. He was appointed the director of the Information-Analytical Center of the administration of the president of Belarus in 2008, a post he held until 4 December 2009, when he was appointed Minister of Information of Belarus.

EU sanctions

In 2011, after the wave of repressions that followed the 2010 presidential election, Oleg Proleskovsky became subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze as part of a sanctions list of 208 individuals responsible for political repressions, electoral fraud and

propaganda in Belarus Propaganda in Belarus is the practice of state directed communication in order to promote patriotism and acceptance of Lukashenko's rule. Propaganda is distributed through state media, such as Belarus-1, which are owned by Belteleradiocompany, b ...

. The sanctions were lifted in 2016. According to the EU Council's decision,Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
/ref> Proleskovsky "has been one of the main sources and voices of state propaganda and ideological support for the regime. He has been promoted to the position of Minister, and has since continued to be a vocal propagandist and supporter of the acts of the regime towards the democratic opposition and civil society."

Personal life

Oleg Proleskovsky is married, and has two daughters.

References

External links

Who is who in Belarus
1963 births Living people People from Sergiyev Posad Belarusian propagandists Government ministers of Belarus Presidential Administration of Belarus {{Belarus-politician-stub