Travel Agency Director Who Didn't Recognize Belarusian Decided to Sue for $37,000, But Changed Her Mind Hours Later
The story surrounding Iryna Dubrouskaya, the director of the Minsk travel agency "Na Vyshinі" (On Top), who didn't recognize the Belarusian language and received a wave of hate and criticism on social media for it, has continued.
Screenshot from STB broadcast
Dubrouskaya announced she was suing and voiced claims against a Threads user for 37,545 dollars. She claimed that she lost contracts worth exactly that amount due to the user's post. However, a few hours later, Dubrouskaya changed her mind.
What it's all about
It all started with a post on Threads. Iryna Dubrouskaya published a photo of Minsk decorated for the Day of Unity of Belarus and Russia.
In the comments, she was asked a question in Belarusian — if Moscow was decorated in the same way.
In response, she wrote in Russian:
«I don't know your language. Write in Belarusian or Russian».
Screenshots of this reply spread across social media. The travel agency director quickly deleted the comment, but the discussion continued, and Dubrouskaya herself engaged in the disputes and actively responded to critics.
This only increased attention to the story and turned one comment into an internet scandal.
Legal threat
A few days later, Dubrouskaya decided that this story had harmed her business and quickly found the «culprit».
One of the girls who first published the scandalous screenshot received a private message:
«A lawsuit has been filed for damage to business reputation and loss of contracts totaling 37,545 USD. You should receive a court notice soon».
And further:
«If you decided to get publicity at my expense, my lawyers simply wrote a lawsuit».
Concurrently, Dubrouskaya publicly expressed her position on Threads:
«Your actions have caused harm to my company. Every step has its consequences. Did you decide to get publicity at the expense of my company, which I've been building for 8 years in a row? Well, come on».
The girl who posted the screenshot of her reply responded calmly:
«I don't even know your company and didn't seek publicity. I posted publicly available content and comments without personal data».
What's happening in the comments
Meanwhile, Threads users sided with the girl who posted. Someone ironized:
«So, she's illiterate, and you're to blame?»
Someone questioned the lawsuit:
«The business was not mentioned in the post».
Others openly mocked the situation:
«She disgraced herself, put herself on public display, and then got offended».
«When she disgraced herself online, but that wasn't enough, she decided to disgrace herself in real life too».
Dubrouskaya herself responds to criticism laconically: «The court will decide».
And continues to engage in disputes:
«You are neither a defendant nor a witness in the lawsuit. You just snorted on Threads».
There's a catch
A few hours after the loud announcements about the lawsuit, Dubrouskaya suddenly changed her tone. Having received new criticism, she wrote in the comments:
«I've already written to her that there will be no lawsuit. I don't have time».
And added a long emotional passage about how «before 'killing' a business», one should «create their own and talk again in 5 years».
At the same time, Dubrouskaya herself says that the scandal even benefited her:
«I've never had such a full house of applications. Thank you, Threads».