In the fall of 2016, according to Coda Story, Russian state-sponsored media, such as “government-run entities like the First Channel and Regnum news agency,” engaged in an aggressive propaganda campaign against Belarus and its president Aleksandr Lukashenko. The campaign started after Lukashenko attempted to improve the country’s relations with the EU, implement a visa-free regime for citizens of European countries, and rebutted Russia’s attempts to establish a military base in Belarus. Some of the narratives included claims that Belarus was becoming a fascist state like Ukraine, that the Belarusian language was inferior to Russian, and that Lukashenko was ready to betray Russia.