Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-black people to portray a caricature of a black person.
Armenians in Russia or Russian Armenians are one of the country's largest ethnic minorities and the largest Armenian diaspora community outside Armenia. The 2010 Russian census recorded 1,182,388 Armenians in the country. Various figures estimate that the ethnic Armenian population in Russia is actually more than 2 million. Armenians populate various regions, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai in the North Caucasus and as far as Vladivostok in the East.
RT is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic.
VTB Bank is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered in St. Petersburg; as of 2022 company's capital stock was mostly owned by three Russian agencies.
The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russian Television and Radio, is a national state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and radio channels in 53 of Russia's languages. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in Moscow.
Tigran Sureni Sargsyan is an Armenian political figure who was Prime Minister of Armenia from 2008 to 2014. Previously he was Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia from 1998 to 2008. After leaving office as Prime Minister, he served as Ambassador to the United States from 2014 to 2016 and as Chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission from 2016 to 2020.
Sergey Vitalyevich Bezrukov is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, singer, People's Artist of Russia, the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation. He currently works at Tabakov Studio. He is a member of the Supreme Council of the party United Russia.
Konstantin Fyodorovich Zatulin is a Russian politician, first deputy chairman of the committee of the State Duma for the CIS and relations with Russian nationals abroad. He represents the Sochi constituency.
Margarita Simonovna Simonyan is a Russian journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, as well as the state-owned media group Rossiya Segodnya.
Anton Vyacheslavovich Krasovsky (Kuznetsov-Krasovsky) is a Russian television presenter, journalist and activist. He was a presenter and director of Russian-language broadcasting on the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT from 2020 until his suspension in October 2022, after comments he made caused a backlash. Previously, he came to prominence for his defense of gay rights in Russia, including his criticism of the Russian gay propaganda law.
RT UK, also known as Russia Today, was a free-to-air television news channel based in the United Kingdom. It was part of the RT network, a Russian state-controlled international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russian government. The channel's head was Nikolay Bogachikhin. Launched in 2014, it ran live broadcasts for seven years and ceased broadcasting from London in July 2021.
The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of modern Russian 'political warfare'". Notably, contemporary Russian propaganda promotes the cult of personality of Vladimir Putin and positive views of Soviet history. Russia has established a number of organizations, such as the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests, the Russian web brigades, and others that engage in political propaganda to promote the views of the Russian government.
Tigran Maytesian is an Armenian-born Russian-Belgian classical violinist, Doctor of Arts. He is a soloist and chamber musician, a professor, past artistic director of the International Festival des Minimes in Brussels, the International Festival Sint Carolus Borromeuskerk in Antwerp and the International Festival at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille de Lille, France, and currently artistic director of the Festival St Andrieskerk in Antwerp, Festival Catharina and Festival Chapel for Europe in Brussels, a scientific researcher and consultant who resides and works in Belgium.
Alyona Aleksandrovna Khmelnitskaya is a Russian stage and film actress and TV presenter.
The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love! is a 2018 Russian state-funded film directed by Tigran Keosayan.
Olesya Vladimirovna Zheleznyak is a Russian theater and film actress, TV presenter. Winner of the All-Russian Theater Prize Seagull Award (2002).
Tigran Oganesovich Khudaverdyan is a Russian businessman, former executive at Yandex N.V.
Julia Davis is a Ukrainian-born American journalist and media analyst writing for The Daily Beast. She is best known for founding Russian Media Monitor, a project monitoring Russian state television, including its international outlets such as RT. She has been described as the "foremost U.S. expert on Russian government-controlled television and propaganda". She has also been described as a "Russian TV whisperer for American ears". Regarding her founding of the Russian Media Monitor, she has stated that "it felt like a very natural thing that, when the U.S. is under such an attack from that part of the world, that with the unique experiences and skills I have, and the language, that I jump in and try to do something about it." She stated that:
Until 2014, my primary focus was on filmmaking, investigative reporting about crimes, government, corruption and civil rights. However, when Putin invaded Ukraine, I was dismayed to discover the lack of reporting on that topic in the U.S., which meant that a lot of news coverage was coming through the Russian English-speaking channel, RT, right here in the United States. RT previously claimed to be an alternative media outlet that reported about fringe politics, global issues and government corruption, but everything changed after Russia annexed the Crimea. In one of her interviews, [RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita] Simonyan admitted that RT was created as an instrument to be used by the Kremlin for its info-wars against the West.... She explained that it would be too late to start making weapons once the war has already started. Thus, RT was apparently crafted in advance and was masquerading as a legitimate media outlet, to be used as needed.... This became very apparent in 2014. In short order, the Kremlin’s bullhorn was weaponized, spewing out blatant propaganda and outright fakes.
