Russia Increases Propaganda Spending and Media Control in Occupied Ukrainian Regions

Russia Ramps Up Propaganda Budget to 106 Billion Rubles as Information War Intensifies

Russia is significantly increasing its propaganda spending, allocating over 106 billion rubles (approximately 53 billion hryvnias) for state television by 2026, according to recent budget plans. This financial commitment underscores the Kremlin’s determination to strengthen its information warfare capabilities both domestically and in occupied Ukrainian territories.

Olena Holub, an analyst from the Institute of Mass Information, notes that these substantial funds are essential for fueling Russia’s propaganda machine. “This new financial package strengthens the ideological component and supports the staffing and information infrastructure of propaganda,” Holub explains, highlighting how media has become a key tool for shaping Russia’s national image.

The roots of Russia’s modern propaganda apparatus predate the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Roman Tsymbaluk, who served as UNIAN’s special correspondent in Russia from 2008 to 2021, traces the systematic development of state-controlled media narratives back to 2010, well before the current conflict.

“People now think that this has always been the case. Nothing like that. This is a pure Putin-era narrative about how they profited from the Russian Nazis. People are just like mindless zombies. In other words, it’s basically a cult,” Tsymbaluk states, identifying the annexation of Crimea in 2014 as a critical turning point.

That event, he argues, united Russian society around the concept of territorial aggression. In the years that followed, the emphasis shifted from persuading citizens with new arguments to reinforcing established narratives and maintaining strict control over the media environment.

“There should always be a minimal advantage, whether during voting or during the broadcast,” Tsymbaluk explains. “The host should always conclude with the thesis that what Russia is doing is right.” He notes that while diverse opinions were occasionally voiced before 2014, Putin had already consolidated control over media outlets previously owned by oligarchs who maintained some editorial independence.

In occupied Ukrainian territories, Russia’s media strategy involves comprehensive information control. In Crimea, authorities have implemented policies to completely exclude Ukraine from the information landscape. When reporting on Ukrainian military operations, Russian media deliberately avoids mentioning Ukraine directly, instead referring vaguely to “enemy drones” or “hostile forces.”

“They try not to mention it at all and sometimes, it looks quite strange when Ukrainian drones fly over Crimea, they say, ‘enemy drones,’ not drawing attention to the fact that these are Ukrainian,” notes Holub. “They want to erase Ukraine from the minds of the Crimean residents so that they do not mention it at all.”

Russia has established regional media outposts in occupied territories, including “Crimea-24” and local branches of major state outlets like “Rossiya-24” and RIA “Novosti.” These serve both to strengthen Moscow’s control over information and to promote local occupation officials’ policies and public image.

The pattern repeated in Kherson following its occupation, where Ukrainian channels were blocked and replaced with Russian alternatives. Journalist Oleh Baturin reports that these outlets actively cover Ukrainian topics but with significant distortions, portraying events as uniformly dangerous and bloody. This creates a false sense of continuity in local information while systematically excluding pro-Ukrainian perspectives.

Experts agree that Russia is strategically investing in propaganda resources where control over information is critical to maintaining occupation regimes. This approach has effectively reduced trust in Ukrainian sources among residents of occupied territories while increasing their reliance on Russian media.

The intensification of Russia’s information warfare underscores the importance of international efforts to document propaganda that contains calls for violence or genocide. As propaganda remains one of Russia’s primary instruments for influencing both occupied regions and international opinion, the financial commitment reflected in the 2026 budget represents a long-term strategy in what has become a protracted information war alongside the military conflict.