Tsargrad TV

Tsargrad TV
CountryRussia
Broadcast areaRussia
HeadquartersMoscow, Russia
Programming
Language(s)Russian
Ownership
OwnerKonstantin Malofeev
History
Launched12 April 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-12)
Links
Websitetsargrad.tv

Tsargrad TV (Russian: Царьград ТВ) is a Russian television channel owned by Konstantin Malofeev. It was named after Tsargrad, the old Slavic name for Constantinople. It is known for its pro-Kremlin and Russian Orthodox stances.[1]

History

Konstantin Malofeev hired former Fox News news director John "Jack" Hanick (Russian: Джек Хэник born 1950), who, with producer Roger Ailes, co-founded Fox News, was its news director from 1996 to 2011 and moved to Moscow in 2013 to help Malofeev launch the channel.[2][3][4][5] From at least 2013 until 2018, Hanick supported Malofeev in several schemes.[6][7][8][9][10][a] Beginning in the fall of 2014, Hanick worked for Ilya Kuzmenkov (Russian: Илья Кузьменков), who was the general director and editor-in-chief of the channel.[12][13] The channel started broadcasting on 12 April 2015 with Andrei Afanasiev (Russian: Андрей Афанасьев, born 1988 or 1989), who graduated from both MGIMO and Complutense University of Madrid and was a former RT employee from 2010 to 2014, as the news anchor.[14][15] Aleksandr Dugin was named chief editor the same year.[16] He has since been replaced by Elena Sharoykina. It is known for being conservative, mixing Russian Orthodox Christianity with Soviet nationalism,[17][18] and supporting president Vladimir Putin.[15][19][20]

Vladimir Putin gives carte blanche to Tsargrad TV which according to Malofeev is the Russian equivalent to Fox News.[15]

In January 2017, KGB and Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia) Lieutenant General Leonid Reshetnikov headed the supervisory board of Tsargrad TV.[21] Since 2017, the deputy editor in chief is Mikhail Borisovich Smolin.[22][b].

Tsargrad TV Analytical Group is a very strong supporter of the United States alternative truth (Russian: альтернативная правда) or alt-right movement and provides support for Richard Spencer, Peter Schweizer, Milo Yiannopoulos, Breitbart News, Steve Bannon, Charles Bausman, whose wife Kristina Bausman is from Mednogorsk, Jordan Peterson and Alex Jones who appears frequently on Tsargrad TV and prominently supports Alexander Dugin.[29][30][31][32][33][34]

On 12 February 2020, Dmitry Skuratov, who is the son of Yuri Skuratov, became the general director of Tsargrad TV and Daria Tokareva (Russian: Дарья Токарева) became the editor-in-chief after Elena Sharoykina (Russian: Елена Шаройкина) left those positions for another position at Tsargrad TV.[35]

Through Tsargrad TV and Malofeev, the pro Russia former Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos is very close to Hanick and Reshetnikov.[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsargrad TV strongly supported the anti vaccination movement with Tsargrad TV host Alexandra Mashkova-Blagikh (Russian: Александра Владимировна Машкова-Благих) as an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccines.[36]

In 2020, YouTube blocked its channel, citing U.S. sanctions against Malofeev.[37]

In March 2022, Hanick was the first person criminally indicted by the United States Department of Justice for violating United States sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War for allegedly providing assistance to Malofeev in order to unfreeze some of Malofeev's assets.[7][9][38][39]

In August 2023, the website of the Russian TV channel Tsargrad, which is linked to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, was blocked in Kazakhstan.[40] The TV channel was sanctioned by the EU in December 2023.[41]

Notes

  1. ^ Under SYRIZA, Jack Hanick supported both Malofeev and Putin's goals by establishing the HellasNet TV network in Greece in 2015. HellasNet TV is a sister network of Tsargrad TV. Hanick explained to Malofeev that HellasNet TV would be an "opportunity to analyze in detail Russia's point of view on Greek television." With collaboration from journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, HellasNet TV was financed and headed by shipowner Yiannis Karagiorgis (Greek: γιαννησ καραγιωργησ). The HellasNet TV network was formed from ten regional stations: Attica TV in Athens and the main station, Alfa Television of Northern Greece (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace), Corfu Channel/Corfu Television (Western Greece), Network 1 Kastoria (Region of Western Macedonia), ENA Central Greece (Central Greece), Irida TV of Rhodes (Dodecanese), PLP Achaia (Peloponnese), Sitia TV of Lassithi (Crete), TVM of Lesvos (North Aegean) and TRT Magnesia (Thessaly). Others support the network include Panos Kammenos, the then Minister of Infrastructure Christos Spirtzis, the "red" contractor Christos Kalogritsas (Greek: Χρήστος Καλογρίτσας) whom the SYRIZA government had facilitated a loan for him from the state-controlled Attica Bank to buy a TV station license, the then Minister of Tourism Elena Kountoura and the General Secretary of Information, at the time, Lefteris Kretsos (Greek: Λευτέρης Κρέτσος).[4][11]
  2. ^ Mikhail Borisovich Smolin (Russian: Миха́ил Бори́сович Смо́лин, born February 22, 1971) is a nationalist Russian historian that writes with nationalist Russian conservative thought. In 1996, he graduated from the Faculty of History of St. Petersburg State University. In 2002, he defended his thesis for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences on the topic "State and legal ideas of L.A. Tikhomirov" (Russian: «Государственно-правовые идеи Л. А. Тихомирова»).[23][24] He became a member of the Union of Writers of Russia. He is a publicist that owns publishing house for the Moscow firm Society for the Development of Russian Historical Education "Two-Headed Eagle" (Russian: Общество развития русского исторического просвещения «Двуглавый орёл»); M. B. Smolin Publishing House (FIV) (Russian: Издательство М. Б. Смолина (ФИВ)), and heads the Orthodox Center for Imperial Political Studies (Russian: Православный центр имперских исследований), the executive director of the Imperial Revival Foundation (Russian: фонд «Имперский возрождения»), as well as the editor-in-chief of the journals Imperial Revival (Russian: Имперское возрождение), Orthodox Volga Region (Russian: Православное Поволжье), Bulletin of South-Western Russia (Russian: Вестник Юго-Запада России) and, since 1997, the editor-publisher of the book series Ways of Russian Imperial Consciousness (Russian: Пути русского имперского сознания), Orthodox Thought (Russian: Православная мысль) and Imperial Tradition (Russian: Императорская традиция). He runs the website for the Two-Headed Eagle Society (Russian: Двуглавый орёл) (rusorel.info).[22][23][25][26] The Double-Headed Eagle Society is now known as the All-Russian Public Organization Society for the Promotion of Russian Historical Development Tsargrad (Tsargrad Society), which, according the United States Department of Treasury, is a Russia-registered organization which has been accused of involvement in espionage on behalf of Russia and is under United States sanctions since 20 April 2022.[27][28]

References

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  3. ^ Лученко, Ксения (Luchenko, Ksenia) (7 October 2014). "«Я лично никак не связан с политикой канала». ДЖЕК ХАНИК, АМЕРИКАНСКИЙ ПРОДЮСЕР РОССИЙСКОГО ТЕЛЕКАНАЛА «ЦАРЬГРАД-ТВ», — О ХРИСТИАНСКОМ ТЕЛЕВИДЕНИИ, АНТИГЕЙСКОМ ЗАКОНЕ И БУДУЩЕМ ЖУРНАЛИСТИКИ" ["I personally have nothing to do with the politics of the channel". JACK HANICK, AMERICAN PRODUCER OF THE RUSSIAN TV CHANNEL TSARGRAD TV, TALKS ABOUT CHRISTIAN TELEVISION, ANTI-GAY LAW AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM]. Colta.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  12. ^ «Я лично никак не связан с политикой канала»: Джек Ханик, американский продюсер российского телеканала «Царьград-ТВ», — о христианском телевидении, антигейском законе и будущем журналистики
  13. ^ God’s Oligarch: One of Vladimir Putin’s favorite businessmen wants to start an Orthodox Christian Fox News and return Russia to its glorious czarist past.
  14. ^ "Андрей Афанасьев" [Andrey Afanasyev]. ruskline.ru (in Russian). 13 June 2023. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
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