The Kremlin's Propaganda Factory

The Kremlin has built a sprawling network of pro-government journalists, bloggers, and media executives through a training program designed to push official narratives and bolster Russia’s information war.

According to its organizers, more than 1,700 people have gone through Masterskaya Novykh Media (New Media Workshop), an initiative run by structures tied to senior Kremlin official Sergei Kiriyenko.

An investigation by the independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Evropa found that many graduates now run influential pro-war Telegram channels, lead media organizations, or staff press offices in Russian-occupied Ukraine. The Kremlin’s own internet crackdown, however, is eating into this network: pro-government Telegram channels have lost 41% of their views amid the restrictions.

The program launched in 2021, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff of the presidential administration, initially pitched it as a fix for a shortage of communications professionals. Graduates were to staff the Regional Management Centers set up by Dialog, a Kremlin-affiliated nonprofit.

After the invasion, the mission turned overtly political. In late 2023, Kiriyenko spoke of an escalating "information war" over what future generations of Russians would believe.

Yulia Ablets, the workshop's founder and a senior executive at Dialog Regiony (Dialog Regions), said in 2024 that the goal was a network of media specialists united by shared values. Organizers said the program had alumni from 16 countries.

Admission is competitive, and tuition is free. Participants attend intensive multi-day sessions led by prominent pro-Kremlin figures, including TV hosts Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan, media entrepreneur Aram Gabrelyanov, and political consultant Kristina Potupchik.

Program director Mikhail Kanavtsev said trainees should understand that their ultimate client was "the president of Russia, the people."

The network reaches into occupied Ukraine. Organizers said 123 graduates came from what they called the "historical regions," meaning Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. Alumni projects also recruit local schoolchildren for journalism training and internships at Russian media outlets.

Graduates join a closed professional community. Ablets described a coordination system that links cohorts through designated representatives, plus an "operations headquarters" that handles breaking news. At one point she put active membership at 600 to 700, with a core of about 200.

Novaya Gazeta Evropa identified roughly 200 alumni through public sources. They work at RT, Solovyov Live, regional newsrooms, government press offices, and private businesses, as well as at institutions in Belarus and Abkhazia.

The workshop has also launched careers. Blogger Ilya Gogua said the training turned him from a small-town influencer into a nationally recognized expert. Another graduate, Ivan Kamenev, landed at Solovyov Live after a training broadcast. Alumni have also done well with state grants, winning about 100 competitions in the program's first two years.

Yet the Kremlin's internet crackdown has steadily undercut the network it built. Telegram was central to the early training, and graduates' channels grew after the 2022 invasion. When Russia blocked Instagram that year, graduate Denis Shalyuta even showed his followers how to use a VPN.

Russia throttled YouTube in 2024. In 2025 it added mobile internet shutdowns, restrictions on Telegram and WhatsApp calls, and whitelists of approved services, while promoting the state-backed messenger MAX. In March 2026, Russia's antitrust regulator declared advertising on Telegram unlawful.

A March 2026 analysis by Novaya Gazeta Evropa found that pro-government Telegram channels had lost 41% of their post views under the restrictions. Opposition channels lost 16.5%. Moving some followers to MAX did not make up the difference.

Graduate Larisa Rzhondovskaya said she saw little point in posting for MAX's "tiny audience." Kamenev blamed overzealous officials. Shalyuta called the restrictions a blend of censorship, commerce, and "managed hypocrisy."