On February 24, the occupiers published the first edition of the weekly propaganda newspaper “Golos Novorossyi” in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia oblast.

The propaganda publication is funded from the Russian “Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives”, according to the newspaper‘s website. The initial plan is to publish five issues of the newspaper.

The propagandists plan to “report on the news and the everyday life of Russia’s new regions, on their integration into the united cultural, economic, and civilizational space of the Russian Federation.” They clarify that the first issue of the newspaper for the “DPR”, “LPR” and the occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts were published on the “first anniversary of the start of the SMO”, that is, of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Screenshot by IMI

The editor-in-chief of the “Golos Novorossyi” is Yulia Shamal. Before this, she used to be the director of the propaganda media holding “ZaTV”, which is based in the temporarily occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia oblast. Before the full-scale war, she worked at “Nravstvenny TV” in Russia, among other things, and is also the author of the documentaries “The Whole Truth About Wanga”, “Who Rules the World”, “Osama bin Laden. Secret Agent No.1”. On the website, she is listed as a “writer” and “an experienced Russian media manager who already has experience working in the new regions.”

According to the propaganda newspaper’s website, it is published in partnership with the Civil Projects Fund “Stalker” and news agency Regnum, supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives of the Russian Federation. Judging by the “Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives” website, it most likely is part of the project “Integration newspaper for territories that are being liberated”, whose designated budget is 13 million rubles for half a year of work. At this budget, “Stalker” sets the following tasks for itself: to develop the concept of the printed edition; to develop the layout of the newspaper, the website, and te Telegram channel; to establish an office of the printed edition; to create a branch office in Belgorod; to create a correspondence department for the printed edition; to ensure the printing, delivery, and distribution of seven issues of the printed edition.

The content on the “Golos Novorossyi” website is propagandistic and written in the “Soviet” style. Namely, the content is published under such headlines as: “The integration into the space of the Russian Federation is proceeding rapidly“, “The people remain in the center of all decision-making“, “8000 buildings restored in Novorossiya“.

Propagandists from another Russian propaganda media, “Izvestia”, were brought to work on “Golos Novorossyi”. In particular, Maria Perevoschikova, who wrote about the “8000 buildings”, works at “Izvestia”. If you search the website of this Russian media outlet, you will find a bunch of content with her name on it.

Sergey Prudnikov is also an author at “Izvestia”, writing a lot about the life in the occupied Donetsk oblast, as well as in “Golos Novorossyi”, reporting on the situation in the city as told by “the new Mariupol Mayor, Oleg Morgun.” Vasilisa Yaseneva, who writes articles about Putin in “Golos Novorossyi”, is also from “Izvestia”. Anton Lavrov writes about Russia’s “SMO successes” both in “Izvestia” and “Golos”, saying that “we were simply left with no other option to defend Russia.”

As IMI reported, on August 1, 2022, a new Russian propaganda TV channel “ZaTV” opened in the occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia oblast. The channel’s staff is Russian. The media holding “ZaMedia” also includes the propaganda radio “Za!Radio” and the newspaper “Zaporozhsky Vestnik“.