During Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Minsk on Wednesday, July 18, he tweeted [1] [ru] an Instagram snapshot [2] with the comment: “In the streets of Minsk.” The problem with the picture is that it portrayed the Belarusian State Circus [3], which could be interpreted as a tacit comment on Medvedev's meeting with the Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and senior state officials.
Medvedev's visit to Minsk was no courtesy visit. A recent smuggling scandal [4] has aroused much anger in Moscow, and Medvedev used the meeting to bring Lukashenko to account for the export of chemical solvents produced from the Russian supplies of duty-free oil. Another item on the agenda, according to [5] RIA Novosti [ru], was the recent intrusion into Belarusian airspace by a Swedish plane dropping teddy bears with anti-Lukashenko slogans. The bear incident [6] was a major embarrassment for Belarus in view of the two countries’ joint air defence system. As a consequence, a student [7] [ru] who published a photostory about the bears, and a 16-year-old girl [8] [ru], who allegedly took a photo of one of the bears, got arrested by the KGB.
Then, how did social media react to the “Belarusian circus”?
Twitter user @minssk united [9] [ru] the two themes of the circus and the teddies:
Медведев прилетел в Минск, сфоткал цирк. До этого прилетали медведи, тот ещё цирк был, но с фотографом там не хорошая история получилась.
Some, like @Dubovnik_Dmitry, turned to sarcasm [10] [ru] when commenting:
Медведев отметил минский цирк твитом:-) видно для того чтобы подчекнуть куда он приехал.
Twitter user @daphnis_nerii assumed [11] [ru] a more ironic tone:
Информационные порталы страны разместили новость о том, что Медведев сфоткал цирк. Что было бы, если б он в Беларуси в туалет сходил?
Still, as Twitter user @yurok1521 asked [12] [ru], the question on everyone's lips is this:
Медведев намекнул на «цирк» в правительстве Беларуси?
What Medvedev's intention with the tweet was, only he knows, but if it was a joke, it testifies to a certain sense of humour of the former Russian president with the nickname ‘iPhonchik’ [13].