MINSK, October 28. /TASS/. Belarusian authorities blocked the Deutsche Welle website, Belarusian Journalist Union reported Thursday.

"When opening the DW website, a window comes up saying it is blocked under a decision of the Ministry of Information," the Union said in its Telegram channel.

The Union noted that "DW gained particular notoriety by a series of propaganda materials about the situation in the country in 2020." In particular, the Union says, the website "disseminated fake news about people ‘raped and gone missing,’ about ‘forced dismissal’ from the Belarusian Broadcasting Company, about the ‘landing party’ of Russian reporters led by RT, and many other things."

The Ministry of Information confirmed the blocking of the website, adding that the blocking also covers other news websites, including Nastoyascheye Vremya (Present Time) and Novy Chas (A New Hour). The websites were blocked because of publication of materials deemed extremist, the Ministry said.

"On October 28, the Ministry of Information decided to limit access to a number of news websites - Deutsche Welle, Nastoyascheye Vremnya and Novy Chas. This step was caused by publication of hyperlinks to materials deemed extremist by a court ruling," Deputy Minister Andrey Kuntsevich said, according to BelTA.