Russia to double funding for state propaganda in 2026

"The Russian state budget’s spending on national TV channels in 2026 will reach 106.4 billion rubles ($1.27 billion), a 54% increase compared to earlier plans and even higher than this year’s figures," the report said.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation (CPD), the largest funding increase will go to entertainment and secondary federal TV channels, with subsidies more than doubling.

Budgets for major Kremlin-controlled broadcasters, including Channel One, Rossiya 1, NTV, and others, will also rise significantly.

"Overall, between 2026 and 2028, the Kremlin plans to spend nearly 246 billion rubles ($2.93 billion) on television propaganda," the CPD noted.

The agency added that amid a record budget deficit and economic difficulties caused by the war and sanctions, Russia is cutting social spending while boosting propaganda funding.

"For the Kremlin, the media machine remains a key tool of control. It keeps Russian society willing to endure poverty, go to the front lines, and support Putin’s aggressive policies that are destroying Russia itself," the statement concluded.

Russia's economic problems

A few days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia’s economy is struggling, but the Kremlin continues to finance the war through energy exports.

He noted that if those revenues dry up, social support for Russians will decline, which "is exactly what the Kremlin fears."

Moreover, in early September, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref admitted that Russia’s economy had effectively stalled in the second quarter of 2025, describing the situation as a state of "technical stagnation."

At the same time, Vladimir Putin continues to deny any slowdown in the country’s economic growth.