Since Russia occupied Crimea in 2014 the EU has been trying to combat Russian propaganda by various means, mainly by trying to debunk its disinformation. Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to a more radical step – outright banning Russian pro-Kremlin media outlets across the bloc, meaning that on EU territories, you can only watch Russia’s propagandist TV channels and news websites via a virtual private network (VPN).

However, there is one more – less known – way how EU countries battle Russia’s disinformation: by delivering reliable news in Russian. Several of the EU’s public broadcasters that operate in countries bordering Russia and home to autochthonous Russian communities, strive to provide reliable information in special Russian editions.

The Fix spoke with representatives from Latvian, Lithuanian, and Finnish public broadcasters – LSM, LRT, and Yle – about their Russian news coverage and how it has been shaped by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Expanding coverage since Russia’s occupation of Crimea

Latvia is home to the largest native Russian-speaking community in the EU. They represent roughly a quarter of the country’s citizens, or about 445,000. No wonder Latvia’s public broadcaster, LSM, started releasing evening TV bulletins in Russian already back in the 1990s. However, soon after Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, the broadcaster decided to expand its Russian programming, explains Alexandra Plotnikova, chief editor of the broadcaster’s multimedia platform LSM+.

LSM’s Russian content expanded once again with Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – this time by focusing on online platforms, including its YouTube channel, which has by now amassed over 113,000 subscribers. They’re the largest non-Latvian edition of the broadcaster, which otherwise also features content in English, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Polish.

In Lithuania, where Russians make up about 5% of its population, or about 142,000, the 2013-2014 Maidan uprising in Ukraine became the main reason why its public broadcaster, LRT, decided to set up an online news service in Russian, notes Viktorija Cieminytė, the broadcaster’s head of communications, to ensure that the Russian-speaking population in Lithuania could “receive news about Ukraine from reliable sources”. Alongside a daily news radio programme in Russian and a weekly cultural programme on TV, the online service represents the main news resource about Lithuania for its Russian speakers. LRT also produces news in English, Polish, and Ukrainian.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine also nudged the Finnish broadcaster, Yle, to expand its news service for the Russian population of about 100,000, or 2% of Finland’s residents, whose beginnings go back to the 1990s. Alongside a short daily TV bulletin and an online news service, they now run a daily update from the front, notes Marko Krapu, Yle’s executive producer. Russia’s edition is one of Yle’s many editions, including Ukrainian, launched in 2022.

Reliable information from a local standpoint

Each broadcaster approaches Russian-language content differently. For instance, LSM+ produces original content with occasional translations, while Yle mainly translates stories from its Finnish edition. Despite these differences, the shared goal is to inform Russian-speaking audiences about local and global events from a trustworthy, local perspective.

In Latvia, offering a local angle also meant interviewing Russian dissidents who moved to the country. “In the first days of the war, many people came to Latvia from Russia, for example, and we invited them all to the studio, because it was very important,” LSM+ Plotnikova notes.

In the first months of the war, there was hope that something would change, that Russians would stand up, so it was also interesting to have a person who has just left telling you more about the sentiment in the country
Alexandra Plotnikova, chief editor of the broadcaster’s multimedia platform LSM+

Reliable reporting is another priority. “For us, being able to offer a quality product and reliable information is also very important,” Plotnikova adds. “If something happens and you’re in Latvia, you know that there is such a portal that you can trust and that has reliable information, no fakes.”

In the case of Russia’s war on Ukraine, that means trustworthy reporting about the war. Although LSM+ doesn’t have correspondents in Ukraine, it strives to translate relevant stories about the war from other language editions or features Latvian correspondents speaking in Russian while reporting from the frontlines.

Funding constraints

Public broadcasters are limited by their funding structure, predominantly relying on government funding and licence fees. That makes them vulnerable to political pressures and budget constraints. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has so far contributed to a relocation of resources that favour Russian editions – but challenges remain.

For instance, in 2023, Yle’s Russian edition received special funding for a talk show called Nakipelo? Obsudim! (which can be translated as Have you had enough? Let’s talk about it!), which tackled topics like Finland’s border closures with Russia and migration, from a perspective relevant to their Russian audience. Despite attracting around 20,000 views per episode on the broadcasting platform, the program’s future is uncertain due to funding cuts, Yle’s Krapu notes. These are also affecting the overall plans for the Russian edition. “The major financial cuts to Yle currently do not make it possible to do anything new. We are waiting for final decisions about the resources in use,” he adds.

Source of the cover photo: Miguel A Amutio via Unsplash

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