"Soy extremists must work off a bowl of strawberries." He complained about working conditions in the KGB, and now he's pushing trainings on security forces — who is Anton Shabunevich
Social media users might 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
He complained about salaries in the KGB, 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, he did not complete anything beyond high school (unless you count various short-term courses).
The man served in the army as a military signalman. A funny story is connected with that page of his biography.
In 2012, Shabunevich wrote a pathetic post on his VKontakte page about the hardships of working in the KGB ranks – supposedly, the pay was low, there was no apartment or car, he couldn't use social networks normally, and couldn't freely travel to the European Union.
The 25-year-old young man announced that due to a bouquet of such reasons, he was leaving the service and planned to enroll in the journalism faculty of BSU, hoping that "leaving 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 fact, the man from Maladzyechna was never involved in operational work for the KGB, but was an ensign in the 14th Government Communications Regiment of the KGB, holding the position of radio station chief. And even earlier, he was a technician for repairing security alarms.
After the column in "SB", Shabunevich himself retracted his words about involvement with the KGB: he said he really just served four years in the army. And he didn't want to take off his uniform, because military service was his school dream, but it was quickly superseded by the journalism faculty.
However, the journalism faculty also didn't work out. And workplaces changed like gloves: first a service center for repairing household appliances, then a rural culture house, 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 endeavor was limited to a couple of meetings. Then he tried his hand at video and photo shooting — love stories, weddings, and birthdays, but something went wrong there too.
After that, Shabunevich recalled his website administration skills acquired at the regional theater and decided to share them with others. In 2021, he had already registered "Anton Shabunevich's web-studio ZDES.BY".
Eventually, his website and social networks reoriented towards news of Belarus and, as Shabunevich himself phrases it, "propaganda of our country".
Despite this, in 2022, the internet marketer boasted that he had finally tapped into a financial flow and had over 300 clients. In parallel, he enrolled in all possible marathons and courses, not losing the opportunity to gain media exposure — be it a performance 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 for "Onliner".
Shabunevich managed to get married and have two children. However, the marriage didn't last long, and the couple divorced.
On the "Vsekastingi.ru" website, 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 he was focused on self-development, and for him, that was now a priority.
Collage for an article on "Onliner" about a man's weight loss.
Shabunevich on the show "Kropki nad "i"" on STB
"I became needed by our country"
Shabunevich explains his sharp reorientation from "financial flows" in marketing towards propaganda and blogging by saying that he "became needed by the country."
"I became needed by our country, our education system, to do cool and bright PR at a high level. There is a demand for patriotism — including, to show 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 purged or "normalized" for political "disloyalty."
Over the past year, Shabunevich managed to receive commendations from the State Border Committee, the head of the Minsk City Executive Committee's Internal Affairs Directorate, and from 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 positions himself primarily 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 standing on nails and working with metaphorical cards, conducted psychological retreats, launched another public speaking club, visited educational institutions with an anti-drug training, and taught style and behavior for happy relationships. No sooner had Shabunevich finished acting courses than he launched his own course. Additionally, he calls himself the best host in Belarus and offers services for finding charisma — 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 Tut" (zdes.by) on all social networks popular among Belarusians, and also updates the eponymous website somewhat.
"That very project, thanks to which the reputation of our country is growing, both at the republican and international levels," Shabunevich spares no compliments for 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 Lukashenka's 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.
The blogger's acquaintances, whom "Nasha Niva" contacted, unanimously note that "Belarus Tut" is a dummy, like many of Shabunevich's other projects.
"All the project's videos created by Anton get minimal likes; only content stolen from other bloggers or platforms 'shoots'. He pretends to be a successful success, but I don't think we would have even heard of him if truly great hosts, bloggers, and media, who have been repressed, were still working in Belarus," comments the interlocutor.
Even this "position", which borders on inciting hatred — is entirely a stolen post
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На наступным тыдні: Ябацька- Хасан Пайкер