Leaked Sobchak correspondence reveals censorship mechanisms in the Russian media
Correspondence from Russian propagandist Ksenia Sobchak, published by hackers, allegedly reveals the operating principles of Kremlin-controlled media. The correspondence suggests that newsrooms were advised to avoid covering the fuel crisis and the consequences of strikes by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on Russian oil infrastructure facilities.
As reported on Friday, July 10, the Russian publication Meduza reported on Friday, July 10, the leaked correspondence suggests, in particular, that the Kremlin reprimanded Sobchak for how one of her Telegram channels covered the Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow on June 18.
The hackers also released correspondence allegedly exchanged between Sobchak and the editor-in-chief of her news projects, Sergei Titov. According to the published screenshots, the conversation also concerned the June 18 attack on Moscow. The propagandist demanded a report on how the attack had been covered.
In turn, the journalist—presumably in response to demands not to create “problems,” “spread negativity,” or “set anyone up”—wrote: “Your entire country is on fire; I can’t help but write the truth. And I’m not going to lie.”
Also in the dialogue cited by Meduza are the following words, presumably written by Titov: “I already feel like hanging myself, because we’re not writing anything about gasoline (except for official information) or about people being abducted from the streets in Penza…”
In response to Sobchak’s apparent assertion that “no one is asking” him to lie, the propagandist’s interlocutor retorts: “Writing that gasoline is available everywhere and everything is great—that’s a lie; we’re getting 122453465746547563 reports every hour saying there’s not a damn drop of it. And we’re not publishing them.”
In response, he receives a message that reads: “But you’re breaking the law and you’ll end up in jail; you’ve really pissed me off with this bullshit. Why can’t you get followers some other way? <…> Why are you always only interested in shit?”
“As for fuel—we’re getting thousands of messages from all over the country saying it’s f**ked up. <…> Posting positive stuff is suicide, and I’m not going to do that. We’ve switched to the official channel for this topic, but writing that everything’s f**ked up when everything’s s**t—that’s Soviet-style media,” writes, presumably, Titov.
He also notes that he is sending the document and a cover letter. It states, in particular, that the Telegram channel “Ostrozhno, Novosti” “did not publish footage of the strikes or the burning oil refinery—neither this time nor previously.”
It also notes that “the editorial staff deliberately published 1% of what they had at the time. The journalists had hundreds of videos from the scene, footage of strikes on the oil refinery, that very manhole cover (which we would never have included), but none of this was intentionally used.”
The author of the document also complains that “the rules are constantly changing.” “If possible, tell me now. Can’t we add smoke? We’ll keep that in mind. Can’t we even add the sky? Okay. Can’t we add a drone in flight where there’s no location? We’ll keep that in mind,” Meduza quotes the message as saying.
Sobchak reported that on Wednesday, July 8, hackers broke into her email and temporarily gained access to her Telegram channels. At that time, screenshots containing excerpts from her personal correspondence appeared on the channels. The propagandist called them fakes and deleted them, but the next day, the hackers released even more screenshots of her correspondence and a series of voice messages.
Meduza notes that “Ostorozhno, Novosti” is a Telegram news channel owned by Sobchak. She also owns the Telegram channels “Sobchak” and “Krovavaya Barynya.”
As a reminder, Lavrov stated that Russia has no intention of stopping the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that an important moment in the war is now unfolding for Ukraine. According to him, Russia no longer has the upper hand on the battlefield, and the main tool remaining to Vladimir Putin is ballistic weapons.
