"Soy extremists must work off a bowl of strawberries." He complained about working conditions in the KGB, and now he's pitching trainings to security forces — who is Anton Shabunevich
Social media users may have recently noticed content from the zdes.by account. This is supposedly a new media outlet, but it stands out not for exclusive content, but only for dirty comments and insults towards readers. The creator of the project is Anton Shabunevich from Maladzyechna. He positions himself as a jack-of-all-trades — a host, an actor, a lecturer, a blogger, a businessman, an expert in relationships, a wedding photographer, and a charisma coach.
But first things first.
Anton Shabunevich. Here and further — photos from social networks
Complained about KGB salaries, but there's a nuance
Anton Shabunevich is 40 years old; he was born and raised in Maladzyechna in a family of artists. According to Belpol, apart from high school, he didn't complete any other education (if you don't count various short-term courses).
The man served in the army as a military communications specialist. That page of his biography is connected to a funny story.
In 2012, Shabunevich wrote a tearful post on his VKontakte page about the hardships of working in the KGB — claiming low pay, no apartment, no car, inability to use social networks normally, and no free travel to the European Union.
The 25-year-old said that due to a bouquet of such reasons, he was leaving the service and planned to enroll in the Faculty of Journalism at BSU, hoping that "his dismissal from the KGB would not affect his life in any way."
Shabunevich's post caused a stir in the Belarusian information space. However, soon "SB. Belarus Today" reported that in reality, the Maladzyechna native was never involved in the operational work of the KGB, but was a warrant officer in the 14th Government Communications Regiment of the KGB, holding the position of head of the radio station. And even earlier, he was a technician for repairing security alarms.
After the column in "SB," Shabunevich himself retracted his words about involvement in the KGB: he claimed he merely served four years in the army. And he didn't want to take off his uniform because military service was his high school dream, but it was quickly replaced by the journalism faculty.
However, journalism didn't work out either. And workplaces changed like gloves: a service center for repairing household appliances, then a rural cultural center, then website administration at the Minsk Regional Drama Theater.
What else did he do?
In 2020, Shabunevich decided he had a talent for public speaking and opened a thematic club in his hometown on a famous street. However, it seems the venture was limited to a couple of meetings. Then he tried his hand at shooting videos and photos — love stories, weddings, and birthdays, but something went wrong there too.
After this, Shabunevich remembered his website administration skills acquired at the regional theater and decided to share them with others. In 2021, he registered "Anton Shabunevich's Web Studio ZDES.BY."
Ultimately, his website and social media accounts reoriented to Belarusian news and, as Shabunevich himself puts it, "propaganda of our country."
Despite this, in 2022, the internet marketer boasted that he had finally tapped into a financial stream and had more than 300 clients. In parallel, he enrolled in all possible marathons and courses, not missing an opportunity to get media exposure — be it an appearance in a theater studio, a visit to state television for filming a discussion about the place of women, or a story about his own weight loss experience to "Onliner."
Shabunevich managed to get married and have two children. However, the marriage didn't last long, and the couple divorced.
On the website "Vsekastingi.ru," Shabunevich described his life experience as a competitive advantage: "There are stories through court for children (right to communication) or a story how a girl (20 years old) left me for her sister's husband (36 years old) (30 years old)."
With such a wealth of knowledge about relationships, Shabunevich launched a Men's Club, where he conducted speed dating, explaining his own loneliness by saying that he was focused on self-development, and for him, this was now a priority.
Collage for an article on "Onliner" about the man's weight loss.
Shabunevich on the show "Kropki nad 'i'" (Dots above 'i') on STB
"My country needed me"
Shabunevich explains his sharp reorientation from "financial flows" in marketing towards propaganda and blogging by saying that "his country needed him."
"My country, our education system, needed me to do cool and bright PR at a high level. There is a demand for patriotism — including for showcasing the strengths of our country," he said in one of the state television programs.
However, it seems more likely that he simply took advantage of the current situation, where some bloggers were eliminated or "normalized" for political "disloyalty."
Over the past year, Shabunevich has received commendations from the State Border Committee, the head of the Minsk City Executive Committee's Internal Affairs Directorate, and the 38th Guards Air Assault Brigade.
And recently, he boasted another diploma — again from his friends, the security forces: the blogger took first place in the republican competition for the best coverage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' activities in the nomination "On Guard Online."
The blogger also works as a host. Moreover, he primarily positions himself as a "state host." His most frequent clients are officials, security forces, and their children. By the way, he values his services at 1200 rubles for six hours of work.
With the same confidence, he organized evenings of nail standing and work with metaphorical cards, conducted psychological retreats, launched another public speaking club, visited educational institutions with anti-drug training, taught style and behavior for happy relationships. Shabunevich barely finished acting courses before launching his own course. Additionally, he calls himself the best host in Belarus and offers charisma-finding services — yes, he also has a training on this topic.
"Soy extremists must work off a bowl of strawberries and a bed in a Polish dormitory"
Shabunevich promotes his project "Belarus Here" (zdes.by) on all popular Belarusian social networks and also somewhat updates the eponymous website.
"The very project thanks to which the reputation of our country is growing, both at the republican and international levels," Shabunevich does not stint on compliments to himself.
However, a large part of the content on his platforms is stolen content from other public pages and author accounts.
Those who do not support the Lukashenka regime, he calls "soy fighters" in the comments.
This is how the chief editor of the project communicates with the audience and deals with unfavorable comments.
Acquaintances of the blogger, whom "Nasha Niva" contacted, unanimously note that "Belarus Here" is a sham, like many other Shabunevich's projects.
"All videos created by Anton for the project get minimal likes; only content stolen from other bloggers or platforms 'goes viral.' He pretends to be a successful success, but I don't think we would even hear about him if truly great hosts, bloggers, and media, who were repressed, were still working in Belarus," comments the interlocutor.
Even this "position," which borders on inciting hatred — is entirely a stolen post