russia increases funding for television propaganda
russia’s budget spending on state TV channels in 2026 will reach 106.4 billion rubles ($1.27 billion). This is 54% higher than previously planned and even exceeds the current year’s figures.
▫️ Funding will increase most for entertainment and secondary federal channels — subsidies have more than doubled. Budgets for major kremlin broadcasters — “perviy,” “rossiya 1,” NTV, and others — have also been significantly increased. Overall, from 2026 to 2028, the kremlin plans to spend nearly 246 billion rubles ($2.93 billion) on TV propaganda.
Amid a record budget deficit and economic problems caused by the war and sanctions, the russian authorities are cutting social spending and raising taxes for their own citizens. Yet the russian government continues to generously fund propaganda.
For the kremlin, the media machine is a key tool of control. It is thanks to it that russian society is willing to endure poverty, go to the front, and support putin’s aggressive policy, which is destroying russia itself.
