Zvezda (TV channel)

History

In 1998, Central Television and Radio Studio of the Russian Ministry of Defense won the tender to broadcast the channel in the competition. On July 17, 2000, Zvezda channel was licensed for broadcasting. On February 20, 2005, Zvezda channel first began broadcasting on UHF channel 57 in Moscow. On May 16, 2005, the channel began to broadcast around the clock. In 2006, Zvezda was for the first time broadcast in all of Russia. In 2007, the audience of the channel grew further, as it was included in the package of NTV+. Since 2009, Zvezda is a federal status channel.

In March 2015, Zvezda offered a presenting job to Jeremy Clarkson less than 24 hours after he was dismissed by the BBC from motoring programme Top Gear.

On 1 September 2015, Zvezda began broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen format.

Controversies

Zvezda describes itself as "patriotic" and is considered one of the most sensational and anti-Western news channels in Russia. It has a reputation for publishing biased news stories which favor the Russian government and whitewash Soviet crimes of the past. It has published several controversial news articles. Examples include:

• Finnish military provocations started the Winter War against the Soviet Union
• Czechoslovakia should be grateful for the Soviet invasion of 1968. After this publication caused significant controversy in Czech Republic, Dmitry Medvedev disavowed himself from the article, saying it does not reflect the official Russian statement expressed in 1993 or 2006.

In 2014–15, Zvezda employed Graham Phillips, a British journalist accused of promoting the Russian narrative in the war in Donbas and who was banned from Ukraine for his work. StopFake reported that Phillips was awarded a medal by Russia's Border Guard, a branch of the FSB, a Russian intelligence agency. They reported that Zvezda published an article in July 2015 on the MH17 airplane shot down above Ukraine in 2014 by pro-Russian fighters, which used Phillips' video and witness testimony to assert that the plane was instead shot down by Ukrainian jets.

In March 2023, the channel reportedly cut a clip, posted on Telegram, in which defence minister Sergei Shoigu did not respond to a question from a Zvezda journalist regarding the peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctions

Zvezda was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government on 21 May 2021, with an official report referring to the channel as producing "news content in accordance with Kremlin policy to justify Russia's actions".

Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan blocked the channel in May 2022.

In October 2022, the Canadian government sanctioned Zvezda amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In June 2023, the European Union added Zvezda to its list of sanctions.

Notes

References

References

1. "Национальная телевизионная компания "ЗВЕЗДА" (НТК ЗВЕЗДА)". Roskomnadzor.
2. (26 March 2015). "Jeremy Clarkson has been offered a new job but it's in Russia". BBC Newsbeat.
3. (2015-08-28). "РТРС сообщает об изменении формата изображения телеканала «Звезда» на 16:9".
4. (2017-07-20). "Dependent media – Russia's military TV Zvezda". StopFake.org.
5. [http://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005309849.html Ilta-Sanomat: Russian TV channel falsifies history], Retrieved August 1st 2017.
6. (21 November 2017). "Zemana naštval článek o roku 1968 na ruském webu, hodlá se ohradit". EuroZprávy.cz.
7. (22 November 2017). "Medveděv: Článek na armádním webu neodráží stanovisko Ruska". TÝDEN.cz.
8. Bright, Sam. (2017-07-24). "The communist soldier using charity sites to fund his war".
9. (2015-07-15). "British Citizen Exposed as a Tool of Russia's FSB".
10. (2023-03-22). "Телеканал "Звезда" обрезал видео с отказавшимся отвечать Шойгу". Радио Свобода.
11. (October 2025). "TV AND RADIO COMPANY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ZVEZDA" OPEN JOINT-STOCK COMPANY". [[National Agency on Corruption Prevention]].
12. (27 May 2022). "В Туркменистане и Кыргызстане заблокировали вещание телеканалов "Россия 1" и "Звезда"".
13. (2022-10-17). "Canada sanctions Russian entities over disinformation, including TV channel, actors".
14. (2023-06-23). "EU imposes 11th package of sanctions against Russia over war in Ukraine".
15. "ЕС включил в 11-й пакет санкций телеканал "Звезда"".