Support The Moscow Times!
Contribute today

Articles by Alexey Kovalev

High on Moscow Hills: Why Russia Is Losing the War on Drugs

As a new, anonymous online marketplaces for drugs emerge, Russian law enforcement is struggling to cope.

Oliver Stone Has Launched Putin’s Re-Election Campaign

Russian journalists were obliged to wait until Putin opened up to a complete stranger — a foreigner — to report that he was a happy and loving grandfather...

The City of Moscow Has Its Own Propaganda Empire

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin takes the tricks Russia plays on foreign audiences and puts them to use against his own constituents.

Where Old Spooks Are Sent to Retire: Russia’s Institute of Strategic Studies

U.S. intelligence officials think they found the smoking gun behind Russia's alleged 2016 election interference. The reality is much more benign.

Russian TV to Trump: It’s Over. We’re With Kim Jong-un Now

State TV has executed an abrupt U-turn on Trump, and is now embracing North Korea. But it is too early to equate media posturing with official policy.

Crippled by the Kremlin, Russia’s State Media No Longer Competes

In the eviscerated ecosystem of the Russian media, independent outlets are filling the new vacuum created by nationwide protests.

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Report No Evil

Russia witnessed mass anti-corruption protests on Sunday, but you’d never know it, if you only followed the state media.

Russia’s Infamous ‘Troll Factory’ Is Now Posing as a Media Empire

A Russian news website has revealed how the ‘troll factory’ rebranded itself as a network of legitimate news sites. But it hasn’t quite abandoned...
opinion Alexey Kovalev

'You're Fake News!': Russia Borrows the Worst from the West

Russian officials have now fully embraced “fake news” as a means of deflecting any criticism, following a long tradition of settling for the lowest...

The Secrets of Russia’s Propaganda War, Revealed

Russia has a new military propaganda force to wage information war. An unauthorized reprint of a military intelligence handbook gives insight into what...

Trying to Fill a Trump-Sized Hole, Russian Propagandists Turn on Each Other

American president was off the Russian news menu this week. In its place came local beef .

Putin’s Most Radical Supporters Turn on Kremlin News Agency Over ‘Cult of Trump’

Some of Vladimir Putin's most devoted supporters have turned on a news agency he created by presidential decree in 2013, complaining about “Trumpomania...

Russian TV — Making War Great Again

Russian Sunday news TV took a more militant turn this week, normalizing the war in Ukraine and chiding the West for not heeding Putin's advice from 10...

Ukraine, Not Russia, Hacked the U.S. Elections, Kremlin Propaganda Reveals

After obsessing over Donald Trump’s presidency for the past two weeks, Russian TV propaganda shifted its coverage noticeably, signaling a new foreign...

That Whole Showdown With America Was Obama’s Fault

After raising the bar of anti-Americanism impossibly high, Russian TV pundits are writing off the conflict as an ex-president’s miserable legacy, and...

Nothing in the Shops, but Jokes Aplenty: CIA Declassifies Archive of Soviet Folk Humor

Recently declassified CIA archives offer chilling parallels with modern Russia.

The West Is Burning, But Russia's Future Is Bright Indeed

It was a long and difficult year for all humanity, TV show host Dmitry Kiselyov summarized, but Russia has emerged victorious and brimming with dignity...

Russian Media Is Triumphant in Aleppo, As Palmyra Falls

As Moscow achieves heroics in Aleppo, the West sabotages Russia’s diplomatic efforts at the U.N., and actively aides terrorists in Syria and Iraq. Also...

Russia's State Media: Anti-Clinton, But Not Wedded to Trump

Russian state media wasted no time trashing Clinton and discrediting democracy in general, hinting that the U.S. elections will be just as fraudulent as...