In the first episode, Salman Khurshid interviews Ram Madhav, the former general secretary of India’s ruling party BJP. “There is no reason for us to believe what the US or Europe thinks. They assume that what they believe should be the belief of the rest of the world,” Madhav said. 

In Conversation with Salman Khurshid will air twice a month on RT. 

RT India has also introduced a weekly podcast by Runjhun Sharma, the head of news at RT India – a deep dive into the most pressing global issues through the lens of India and Russia. 

Earlier Dr. Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician, diplomat, author, and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, featured in his show Imperial Receipts with Dr. Shashi Tharoor on RT India, a ten-episode series addressing historical amnesia, while prolific Indian actor and best-selling author Anupam Kher hosted Let’s Talk Bharat. 

RT India began broadcasting from its studios in New Delhi, India in December 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan jointly launched the new channel during the president’s state visit to the country. Later this year, RT also plans to launch a dedicated Hindi-language news website, catering to over 500 million Hindi speakers in India. 

RT’s first international channel launched in 2005, and today it is a global TV news network providing breaking stories, current affairs coverage, commentary and documentaries in eleven languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Indonesian and Russian; it also includes the multimedia news agency Ruptly. In 2025, RT became available to 950 million TV viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe. RT projects received more than 40 billion views online, almost twice as many as the year before.

The course is accessible at https://www.gw2ru.com/your-russian-course.

In addition to grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics, learners will explore Russian culture and everyday life. All course modules are connected by a cohesive storyline featuring an Englishman traveling by train across Russia. 

The course comprises 21 main units plus a dedicated section on the Russian alphabet and pronunciation. Each unit includes reading and listening to dialogues, grammar explanations, vocabulary building, interactive exercises, video content, and listening practice. Every module concludes with a progress test. 

The RT project ‘Gateway to Russia’ enables foreign users to not only learn the Russian language, but also deepen their knowledge of Russian history and culture. Additionally, it offers information on citizenship, education, and relocation to the country. 

The ‘Gateway to Russia’ platform is available in Russian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Serbian, Chinese, and Japanese.

“By establishing an award in honor of our colleague Khaled Alkhateb, who was killed while carrying out his journalistic duty in Syria, and by holding it for the eighth consecutive year, our channel seeks to support the difficult and sometimes life-threatening work of war correspondents,” said Maya Manna, head of RT Arabic. “Today, whether during the Special Military Operation or in other conflicts, they are working on the information front — the front of truth.”

Nearly 100 submissions were received this year from correspondents and film crews representing Russian and Arab media outlets, as well as independent journalists working in conflict zones. Their reporting covered the Special Military Operation and armed conflicts in the Middle East, including Palestine, southern Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria. 

WINNERS:

1. Amir Yusupov from Channel One (Russia) for exclusive footage of Operation Potok in Russia’s Kursk Region. Channel One’s film crew took part in a covert movement by Russian troops through the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod gas pipeline behind Ukrainian positions. 

2. Ahmad Ghanim of Al Mayadeen (Lebanon) with a report from the Gaza Strip. The piece documents the devastating consequences of the blockade of Gaza, including a man-made humanitarian crisis and famine that have become part of everyday life for civilians. 

3. Fouad Jarada from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation with a report on the fate of journalists in Gaza, where working in the media has become increasingly dangerous amid the fighting. The report focuses on a correspondent and a cameraman who were killed during the conflict and includes footage and photographs capturing the horrors of war, taken by journalists and activists at great personal risk. 

In 2025, the jury was chaired by Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya media group, and included RT Arabic war correspondent Maxim Toury, war reporter and founder of the WarGonzo project Semyon Pegov, and RT senior war correspondent in Gaza Saed Swerki. 

The RT network established the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards in memory of 25-year-old journalist Khaled Alkhateb, who collaborated with RT Arabic. He was killed in a rocket attack by militants in Syria’s Homs province in 2017 while covering clashes between government forces and terrorist groups. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree posthumously awarding him the Medal for Courage, which was presented to his family at the inaugural awards ceremony. 

Over the years, hundreds of war correspondents covering armed conflicts around the world — including in Syria, Gaza, and the Special Military Operation — have taken part in the competition. More than 20 journalists from Russia, Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, the US, Italy, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, India, and Argentina have received the award.

The launch of the branded train is part of a broader series of events marking RT’s 20th anniversary and its impact on the global media landscape, with a focus on the channel’s key accomplishments and the reactions it has drawn from leading international media and political figures.

The train features three distinct carriage types: “The Newsroom,” “Censorship,” and “Live Broadcast.” Each carriage tells the story of RT since its launch in 2005, filled with ironic references that are part of the channel’s signature style. Grab rails throughout the train incorporate specially designed structures shaped like megaphones and RT’s iconic microphones. The carriage walls are adorned with quotes about RT from international media and politicians, as well as remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The RT-branded train will operate on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line of the Moscow Metro until June 2026.

Earlier in 2025, RT marked its 20th anniversary with a gala evening event, held at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, which was attended by over a thousand friends and guests of the channel from all around the world. President Putin praised two decades of RT’s work from the Bolshoi’s stage.

RT also organized a stunning projection mapping show illuminating the façade of the Bolshoi Theatre. The lights-and-music show told the story of RT’s evolution from a single, English-language TV channel into a global multilingual network present all over the world.

On Manezhnaya Square in central Moscow, RT erected a giant installation designed as a megaphone. The structure featured quotes from a wide array of international ‘fans’ of RT’s work, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, who dubbed the channel a Kremlin “propaganda bullhorn.” The installation featured a studio housing live broadcasts, interviews, and recordings of RT shows.

Since its first international channel launched in 2005, RT has become a global TV news network providing breaking stories, current affairs coverage, commentary and documentaries in ten languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese and Russian; it also includes the sister multimedia news agency RUPTLY. RT is available 24/7 to over 900 million viewers in more than 100 countries.

“RT managed to pull off something to overshadow the Emmys. The African Media Awards was a Golden Globe-level epic,” proclaimed Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of the great Nelson Mandela.

Opening the ceremony, Ethiopian Minister of the Government Communication Service Enatalem Melese noted: “By honoring excellence in journalism, we are celebrating not only individual achievements, but also strengthening professional standards. I would like to extend my appreciation to RT for organizing this wonderful historical event for the first time in Ethiopia.”

The minister also stated: “Through your efforts, Africa’s voice was amplified with clarity and confidence, and the enduring spirit of Pan-Africanism was reignited for the present generation. Your contribution stands as a model of meaningful partnership – one that demonstrates the power of collaboration, shared values, and mutual respect.”

The organizing committee received over 800 applications from 41 countries. The main prize — the “Golden Alkebulan” statuette depicting the African continent — was awarded to journalists from Nigeria, Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia for their work across various genres, ranging from news reporting to documentary films.

Awards were presented by African leaders and politicians of the highest level, descendants of the continent’s legendary leaders, and major African stars.

The ceremony was attended by former President of Namibia Nangolo Mbumba; Minister of the Government Communication Service of Ethiopia Enatalem Melese; Minister of Tourism of Ethiopia Selamawit Kassa; Press Secretary of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Billene Seyoum; Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports of Tanzania Palamagamba Kabudi; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services of Zimbabwe Nick Mangwana; former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Lindiwe Sisulu; and many others.

The ceremony was also attended by descendants of the continent’s legendary leaders — Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Oliver Tambo, and Steve Biko — as well as Director General of the African Union of Broadcasting Grégoire Ndjaka and more than 60 heads of major media outlets from across Africa.

Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports of Tanzania Palamagamba Kabudi stated: “RT offers us another source of information. For many years, we have relied on Western news channels. Now RT brings a new, special atmosphere. This is cooperation based on mutual respect. If we look at international media like CNN and BBC, their news cannot be called balanced – the content in their broadcasts is often one-sided and manipulative.”

The event featured performances by prominent musical and football legends from Africa. Also among the participants were the star of modern Pan-Africanism, RT show host Professor P.L.O. Lumumba, Hasset Dereje, the holder of the Miss World Africa title, as well as bloggers with millions of followers from various African countries. At the event, Madagascar’s star Denise — who participated in the International Music Contest “Intervision-2025” in Moscow — and Ethiopian pop singer Betty G performed. Additionally, Togolese football legend Emmanuel Adebayor took the stage with children’s dance groups from Uganda.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services of Zimbabwe Nick Mangwana said: “This didn’t even look like an inaugural event. It looked like this has been done so many times over and over again, but no, this is actually the foundation. RT, we thank you. You make us so proud.”

The Minister of Tourism of Ethiopia Selamawit Kassa noted: “The attendance is very African, from each corner, from north to south. Special thanks to RT. They’ve put up something wonderful.”

The broadcast of the African Media Awards ceremony was shown on 42 TV channels from 22 countries – Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Namibia, Comoros, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Guinea, Benin, Togo, and Eswatini.

The combined audience of all broadcast channels that aired the ceremony reached over 400 million potential viewers.

The African Media Excellence Conference, held earlier in the day before the awards ceremony, focused on technology, media partnerships, and strategies for elevating African content to the global stage.

The African Media Awards celebrates journalism, broadcasting, digital media and storytelling by bringing together the best voices that shape Africa’s media landscape. With a wide range of categories spanning television and online platforms, an esteemed panel of judges comprised of industry leaders from the continent set the benchmark for excellence, diversity, and creative expression across African media. Each winner receives “The Golden Alkebulan” — a statuette depicting the African continent.

“This is a momentous event, for it [RT] grants millions of Indian citizens clearer, more direct access to insights about contemporary Russia,” Vladimir Putin said.

Commenting on RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan’s remarks that RT’s broadcasts are being shut down in many “ill-intentioned countries,” the Russian president stated: “This is not out of malice, it is out of fear, fear of the truth. Because Russia Today is a source of truthful and reliable information, focused on serving the interests of its viewers and listeners.”

He added: “Russia Today’s mission is not merely to promote Russia, its culture, and its positions on domestic and international issues. Above all, Russia Today strives to convey truthful information about our country and about what is happening in the world. This is the absolute value of Russia Today; this is what distinguishes it from the propaganda machinery of many Western media outlets, which essentially relay the positions of their governments.”

The channel’s launch took place during the official state visit of the Russian president to India.

“I am confident that Russia Today will do its job, and do it brilliantly, at the highest level. My congratulations to Russia Today and to all of your current and future viewers and listeners. Good luck,” stated Vladimir Putin.

During the launch ceremony, the president was presented with a virtual tour of the RT India studios.

As part of President Putin’s visit to India, an Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between RT and Indian public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati was signed, further expanding cooperation in the media sphere. The agreement includes the exchange of news content, expertise, and information, as well as the organization of joint live broadcasts covering breaking news, major summits, and high-level visits between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India. This marks a new phase in the partnership between RT and Prasar Bharati, strengthening not only media collaboration but also broader bilateral relations amid a complex international environment.

RT India will air four daily news bulletins alongside documentaries, interviews with government officials, business leaders, and cultural figures, as well as public affairs programming tailored to a broad Indian audience. The channel will prioritize in-depth coverage of key developments in Russian-Indian relations and the growing role of both nations in a multipolar world.

The channel’s flagship geopolitical talk show will be hosted by former Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid. Rungjun Sharma, the head of News at RT India, will present a weekly program dedicated to Russian-Indian relations. The Indian politician, diplomat, author, and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, already hosts his own show on RT called ‘Imperial Receipts with Dr. Shashi Tharoor’.

In the run-up to the channel’s launch, RT has unveiled a nationwide ad blitz that celebrated the strength and legacy of the deep and historic ties between Russia and India. The campaign was visible across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai, taking over 65 prime locations and 190 digital screens and billboards nationwide.

The launch of a dedicated channel tailored specifically for the Indian audience will significantly expand RT’s footprint and viewership in the country. It also represents a landmark moment in relations between the two friendly nations. RT India will serve as a vital platform for highlighting the strategic nature of Russian-Indian cooperation, built over decades on mutual respect, trust, and open dialogue.

In 2026, RT also plans to launch a dedicated Hindi-language news website, catering to over 500 million Hindi speakers in India.

The proceedings will take place on December 3-4 in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. 

“It is a great honor for RT to be a partner of the awards where every voice matters and where every voice will be heard. The strength of Africa lies in its diversity of experiences and views. We hope these awards will serve as a platform where achievements in media respond, among others, to the challenges of neo-colonialism, which we see looming over the Global South. They will amplify local, national, regional and cross-continental pride and bring to the world the vibrant identities of African peoples through their stories,” said Vera Kharina, the director general of RT. 

The African Media Awards will celebrate outstanding achievements in journalism, broadcasting, digital media and storytelling, and will unite the best representatives of Africa’s media landscape. Twenty-one nominees have reached the finals, competing in various categories — from news reporting to documentaries. Over 800 submissions were received from more than 40 African countries. Moreover, several special prizes will be awarded during the ceremony. The jury includes representatives from leading African media. 

Among the participants of the African Media Excellence Conference are well-known politicians from the continent, the director generals of the biggest media outlets and prominent public figures, including the descendants of great African leaders. 

They will discuss and debate a range of vital and timely topics, including Africa’s voice in a multipolar world, best practices in African storytelling and AI utilization in African media. 

In addition to RT, the organizers of the African Media Awards and the African Media Excellence Conference include major African organizations such as the African Union of Broadcasting, the Patrice Emery Lumumba Foundation, the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation, the Kenneth Kaunda Legacy Foundation, the Sisulu Foundation for Social Justice, and the PLO Lumumba Foundation.

The campaign, titled “A new voice from an old friend”, introduces the upcoming December launch of the RT India English-language news channel, created specifically for the Indian audience by RT, a Moscow-based global TV news network. 

The integrated rollout spans key business, cultural and diplomatic districts in cities, as well as major airports, featuring a mix of digital and print formats. It also leverages connected TV and the print and online editions of leading newspapers. 

The campaign is currently visible across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, taking over 65 prime locations and 190 digital screens and billboards nationwide. 

Reflecting on the enduring India–Russia partnership, the campaign highlights shared perspectives, milestones, and the long-standing spirit of friendship between the two nations. Among the standout visuals is a symbolic image showcasing the camaraderie between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

RT has also launched a large-scale anamorphic 5D OOH campaign across six major Indian markets — Delhi Airport, Noida, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — marking one of the brand’s most ambitious digital outdoor initiatives in India to date. The campaign features immersive 5D creative executions on some of the country’s most prominent high-impact LED screens.

Additionally, RT has introduced a special Indo-Russian installation on the Delhi Metro. The thematic display spans the Yellow Line — from Samaypur Badli to Millennium City Centre Gurugram — covering 37 stations over 47 km, significantly strengthening the brand’s cultural presence and public engagement. A themed train dedicated to Russia–India friendship features eight coaches with eight stories, covering various domains of cooperation from space and defence to culture and sports. 

The campaign will continue through late December 2025 with more activities planned across the country.

RT plans to launch RT India by the end of 2025 in December, broadcasting from a studio complex in Noida with news programming and shows tailored for a wide Indian audience. RT International is already carried by India’s largest satellite and cable operators, with a combined potential reach of 675 million viewers.

The Russian leader noted that in 20 years RT has gone from an idea to a global brand renowned around the world. 

“I thank your dynamic, creative, and close-knit team for the high level professionalism, dedication to your craft and duty. For boldly, selflessly, and persistently upholding the truth in the global information space. I wish you continued growth, the discovery of new formats and themes in the fierce battle for hearts and minds. To prevail in this struggle, you must continue wielding your secret strategic weapon – high-precision, intercontinental in its reach – the truth. The voice of truth, the voice of Russia, must resound loudly, confidently, and persuasively!” said Vladimir Putin. 

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, in turn, shared her memories of how the channel was created. 

“I remember when you appointed me 20 years ago – it seemed to me the world had gone mad, and the main task was not to disgrace myself. It was impossible to imagine, firstly, that all this would be created, and secondly, that it would grow into such a colossal enterprise. <…> It is a privilege to have the opportunity <...> to work for one’s convictions,” said Margarita Simonyan. 

During the anniversary gala at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Russian President also met with the heroes of RT documentary films about the Special Military Operation in Ukraine and held a screening of these films with the SMO participants.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko also extended their congratulations to RT as well as world leaders of past and present. 

“I like RT because, first of all, this channel tells the truth that others hide; second, it offers interesting and relevant content; third, it expands the horizons of the Global South and does not turn a blind eye to inconvenient truths, as many Western media do,” noted Miguel Diaz-Canel, the President of Cuba. 

“The multidimensional mass media outlet Russia Today has been defending the truth of humanity and the peoples’ right to peace for 20 years now. You won’t find another channel like yours. I am RT’s biggest fan,” said Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. 

“We congratulate RT on its 20th anniversary and express our sincere admiration and gratitude to the entire team for its dedication, impartiality, and objective coverage of world events,” said Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, the President of Bolivia. 

Former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, Serbian film director Emir Kusturica, former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Pierre de Gaulle, Charles de Gaulle’s grandson, Ndileka Mandela, grandchild of Nelson Mandela, and many others acknowledged RT’s accomplishments and sent their well wishes on the network’s anniversary. 

At the Bolshoi Theatre’s Beethoven Hall, the guests attended a special presentation showcasing key events covered by RT correspondents throughout the channel’s 20-year history. The evening rounded up with a performance of the iconic ballet The Queen of Spades.

RT marked its 20 years on air with a stunning projection mapping show illuminating the façade of the Bolshoi Theatre. The lights-and-music show told the story of RT’s evolution from a single, English-language TV channel, into a global multilingual network with presence all over the world.

On Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, RT erected a giant installation designed as a megaphone. The structure features quotes from a wide array of international ‘fans’ of RT’s work — among them, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who dubbed the channel a Kremlin ‘propaganda bullhorn.’ Inside the installation is a studio housing live broadcasts, interviews, and recordings of RT shows.

As part of the anniversary celebration, RT’s creative team produced a series of AI-assisted videos, which were also presented to President Putin and the channel’s guests: 

Western politicians who have gone out of their way to obstruct RT’s work congratulate the network on the milestone.

Western establishment journalists question themselves on their casual relationship with truth.

RT correspondents — who have been accused of everything under the sun — decide that they have nothing to apologize for.

With its first international channel launched in 2005, RT is, today, a global TV news network providing breaking stories, current affairs coverage, commentary and documentaries in ten languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese and Russian; it also includes sister multimedia news agency RUPTLY. RT is now available to more than 900 million TV viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe. Just in 2024, RT projects received more than 23 billion views online.

Across ten episodes, the popular politician, diplomat and author explores his country’s past, dismantling long-standing myths about colonialism. Shashi Tharoor uncovers the real story of British rule in India – the plunder, oppression and devastation of a centuries-old culture and economy in one of the world’s largest nations, reducing one of humanity’s oldest and most distinctive civilizations to a mere supplier of raw materials and cheap labor.

Beyond recounting the unvarnished truth of the past, the project also explores how colonialism echoes in today’s political and economic landscape, raising questions about the present and future. Who pays the price for the West’s ambitions, and what is that price? Will the stolen wealth be returned? And why is confronting the legacy of British colonialism essential for an honest dialogue about the global order today?

”For 200 years, somebody else has been deciding what you’re supposed to stand for in the world. The last thing you want to do is to surrender as an independent nation your right to have your own view to anybody else,” emphasizes show host Shashi Tharoor.

A special preview episode, filmed in Moscow during Dr. Tharoor’s visit to the Russian capital, aired in mid-August. In it, the politician fielded questions from Russian and international students and foreign policy experts on topics ranging from history and politics to India’s future, globalization and the emerging world order. The Moscow visit, timed ahead of his show’s premiere, garnered extensive coverage in Indian and international media and trended on India’s political X feeds.

Imperial Receipts will air weekly starting September 1 at 4:30 p.m. Moscow time (7:00 p.m. in India). Series page: https://www.rt.com/shows/shashitharoor/.

RT Projects

Other prominent figures hosting shows on RT include prolific Indian actor and best-selling author Anupam Kher, former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, renowned American journalist Rick Sanchez and Kenya’s eminent pan-Africanist and anti-colonialism activist professor P.L.O. Lumumba. Throughout the years, RT has worked with leading international media and public sphere personalities, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and journalist Max Keiser, dubbed the “most dangerous financial expert” by The Huffington Post. For over seven years, RT aired programs by broadcasting legend Larry King — PoliticKing and Larry King Now. During its coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, RT was joined by renowned coach José Mourinho and football stars Peter Schmeichel and Carlos Valderrama.

About RT

RT is a global television network operating news channels in English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Serbian and French, along with the documentary channel RTD in Russian and English. RT also runs online platforms in eight languages and includes the global multimedia news agency RUPTLY, which provides exclusive content to broadcasters worldwide. RT is available in Chinese on major social media platforms such as Weibo, Bilibili and Douyin, and in Hindi on local social platforms. The network broadcasts 24/7 to over 900 million viewers across more than 100 countries.

RT plans to launch RT India by the end of 2025, broadcasting from a studio complex in New Delhi with news programming and shows tailored for a wide Indian audience. RT English is already carried by India’s largest satellite and cable operators, with a combined potential reach of 626 million viewers.

Sanchez Effect aims to challenge mainstream Western narratives. Rick Sanchez will share his take on global events and engage in discussions with his guests. The premiere episode, airing June 9 at 5:30 p.m. Moscow time, will feature an interview with Russia’s top negotiator and presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

Rick Sanchez is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist; he has interviewed four US presidents, as well as other prominent figures such as Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2019, having faced censorship, bias, and one-sided reporting in the US media, he decided to join RT. In 2024, already the host of his own show on the channel, he was forced to step down due to sanctions imposed on RT. In 2025, determined to continue his work despite RT being banned in the US, Sanchez made the decision to move to Moscow. He sees it as his mission to provide viewers with an alternative to the Western media discourse.

“When only one side of a story is permitted, that’s when I push harder. If Moscow is deemed off-limits, it’s precisely where I want to be. Because more often than not, truth resides in the places we’re told not to look,” Sanchez explains.

Sanchez Effect will air Monday through Thursday.

Former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa and Kenya’s eminent pan-Africanist and anti-colonialism activist professor P.L.O. Lumumba also host shows on RT. Throughout the years, RT has worked with leading international media and public sphere personalities, including broadcasting legend Larry King, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, prolific Indian actor, best-selling author and motivational speaker Anupam Kher, Pulitzer Prize-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist Chris Hedges, the “most dangerous financial expert” Max Keiser, former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, legendary football coach José Mourinho, top American veteran journalist Ed Schultz, and French media icon Frédéric Taddeï, among others.

With its first international channel launched in 2005, RT is, today, a global TV news network providing breaking stories, current affairs coverage, commentary and documentaries in ten languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese and Russian; it also includes sister multimedia news agency RUPTLY. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be an eleven-time Emmy finalist. RT is now available to more than 900 million TV viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe. Just in 2024, RT projects received more than 23 billion views online.

“Our first in-person training course in Africa was met with great enthusiasm from local journalists. We’re confident that the knowledge and expertise we shared in Ethiopia will help amplify the voice of African media on the global stage,” said Anna Kovtunova, head of RT’s Educational Projects.

More than 100 journalists, anchors, and cameramen attended the RT-led workshops which were held in Addis Ababa from June 2 to June 6.

RT’s PR specialists, war correspondents, and cameramen shared insights into the realities of reporting — from interviewing political leaders to covering conflict zones, filming with drones and mobile phones, and using artificial intelligence in broadcast journalism.

Course participants learned about the news production process, how to present confidently on camera, engage audiences on social media, and create high-quality video content.

As part of the visit to Ethiopia, RT also signed an agreement to cooperate with the country’s largest TV channel — EBC.

RT broadcasts in Africa in English, Arabic, and French. The network operates news bureaus in several countries and maintains a wide network of correspondents across the continent. More than 60 African TV channels feature RT content on their broadcasts and digital platforms.

RT Academy is RT’s international educational project; it was launched in 2024. The initiative has offered online courses for journalists from Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN), India, China, and Africa. The first media course for African journalists, conducted in English and French, attracted over 1,000 participants from 35 countries.

MOSCOW, MAY 25, 2025 — On Africa Liberation Day, May 25, 2025, RT is releasing a special video project titled African Legacy (Africa: Legacy of the Great Leaders) dedicated to the continent’s leaders whose fight against colonialism and efforts to unite African peoples changed the course of history.

The children and grandchildren of legendary figures, including Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Oliver Tambo, and Steve Biko, share stories about their ancestors and their contributions to Africa’s liberation and development.

They also speak about the importance of preserving historical memory as modern Africa once again faces various challenges, and how the new generation must continue the work of their great forebears in order to move forward, toward prosperity and unity.

“Today history repeats itself. The same powers that once dictated to Africa whom it should call friend and whom it should call enemy are trying to do so once again. They paint Russia as a villain, just as they once did with the Soviet Union. But we must remember the lessons of the past. Those who truly supported Africa's liberation are not the ones who plundered our lands, who assassinated our leaders, or who imposed crippling debts upon us,” says Roland Lumumba, son of Congolese national liberation movement leader and the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba.

Participants of the project note that Russia has always supported their peoples’ struggle for freedom and justice, and that the USSR played a pivotal role in helping African nations break free from colonial dependence. Today, partnership with Russia opens new opportunities for the continent’s countries based on shared values, respect for sovereignty, and a vision of a multipolar world.

“With Russia, we see opportunities for trade, technology exchange and development that will help Africa grow independently and sustainably. By working with Russia, we can secure support that respects Africa's right to shape its own destiny and economic future,” states Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of the legendary anti-apartheid fighter, former South African president, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela.

RT broadcasts in Africa in English, Arabic, and French. The network's first bureau in the region opened in South Africa in 2022. Today, RT operates seven bureaus across different African countries and has established a continent-wide correspondent network. More than 60 African TV channels feature RT content in their broadcast and on digital platforms. RT is the first Russian TV network to become a member of the African Union of Broadcasting.

To mark its 15th anniversary, RT en Español presented its documentaries at the Havana Festival of New Latin American Cinema, while the channel’s top professionals conducted several master classes for journalists in Managua.

President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel congratulated the channel, saying: “This is one of the platforms where Cubans prefer to get their news thanks to its content and style. And I am one of them.”

Vice President of Nicaragua Rosario Murillo thanked the channel for fighting disinformation: “We fully share [RT en Español]’s commitment to pursuing the truth and giving people access to reliable sources of information that allow them to know what others want to conceal.”

On the occasion of the channel’s 15th anniversary both the National Council of Universities of Nicaragua and the National Student Union of Nicaragua honored RT en Español with awards for “responsible and objective coverage of global events” and “continuous defense of the truth.”

RT en Español is the only Spanish-language TV channel that broadcasts 24/7 on public television networks carrying public broadcasters in eight Latin American countries: Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba. More than 1,200 cable and satellite operators offer RT en Español to viewers throughout Latin America. On top of that, more than 100 other TV channels regularly broadcast programs and other content by RT en Español. Overall, the channel’s audience exceeds 800 million people. No other channel broadcasting in Spanish nationally or internationally has a comparable reach.

Reporters and anchors of RT Spanish have interviewed top Latin American leaders, including presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Uruguay.

Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has been hosting his political talk show on RT en Español, A Conversation with Correa, since 2018.

RT Spanish has been the winner and a finalist of various international awards, including the New York Festivals and Promax Awards. When RT en Español started broadcasting in 2009, it was nominated by the British Broadcast Digital Awards as the best television channel launch of the year. RT en Español has won over twenty awards from the Mexican Press Club to date.

“I congratulate the entire RT Serbian team and all our viewers on finally finding each other. We are incredibly happy that, despite all the sanctions, despite our voice being suppressed wherever possible, we will nevertheless broadcast here, in Serbia, in Europe. We very much hope that we won’t disappoint our viewers’ expectations,” said RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. 

RT Balkan is available through several operators in Serbia and Republika Srpska, as well as online. The channel will cover the regional and global events, bringing RT’s trademark alternative perspective to the most pressing issues of the day. The new channel’s flagship show will be the interview program Relativizacija (“Relativization”), hosted by prominent Serbian journalist and former head of the Serbian Journalists’ Association, Ljiljana Smajlović. 

“RT Balkan has assembled a team of both experienced and young journalists who refuse to submit to Western narrative hegemony. We are proud to work in the only country in Europe where freedom of speech still exists – something that’s fashionable to talk about in the West but not to practice. We are very grateful to the politicians of Serbia and Russia who made this possible despite enormous pressure from Western countries trying to break the friendship between our peoples,” said RT Balkan Editor-in-Chief Jelena Milinčić. 

The RT Balkan multimedia portal launched online and on social media in 2022, becoming a popular information source for Serbian audiences. In 2023 alone, RT Balkan’s video content garnered 150 million views on social media, and doubled that number in 2024. Reporters Without Borders, in turn, labeled the portal as “Russia’s main propaganda outlet in the Balkans.” 

“I congratulate you on the launch of RT broadcasting in Serbian. This is for Serbia and for the Serbs – because Serbs live in Serbia, in Republika Srpska, in the Balkans and abroad. This is what we have all long waited for and worked hard to achieve. This decision was made and now has been implemented. I wish you success, interesting projects, and frank interlocutors. And as they say in Russia – good luck on your journey,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. 

The launch of RT Balkan was preceded by unprecedented pressure on RT and Serbian leadership from Western countries and media representatives. U.S. State Department Special Representative and Global Engagement Center Coordinator James Rubin, speaking about RT Balkan’s operations in Serbia in 2023, stated: “We would not like to see Russia Today or other Russian media anywhere. We want them shut down.” Additionally, the European Union demanded Serbia restrict Russian state media broadcasting, which Belgrade refused to do, as it does not support anti-Russian sanctions.

The portal is accessible at https://gw2ru.com

“International audiences often face a lack of high-quality, well-structured and up-to-date materials about Russia, especially those presented in the engaging and accessible style they are accustomed to on social media. ‘Gateway to Russia’ fills this gap,” said project director Natalia Lebedeva.

The platform will produce its own content to facilitate learning the Russian language, history and culture, while also curating information from other sources.

“There are two sides to this project. On one hand, we provide foreigners with a convenient access point to all information and services related to Russia. On the other hand, we bring together leading Russian cultural and educational organizations, offering them access to an international audience,” said Gateway to Russia editor-in-chief Vsevolod Pulya.

The project will operate on a “one-stop-shop” principle, assisting international users with any queries they may have. The portal connects users to Russian online services or directs them to relevant agencies that offer information about moving to Russia, education, and learning the Russian language and culture.

The platform is available in four languages: Russian, English, French, and Spanish. Additional language versions are set to launch in 2025.

Film director Natalya Kadyrova explains, “There are five stories in the film. We have selected the most impressive ones out of all the projects we have found across our vast country.” 

Russian indigenous music group Otyken mixes local folk music with modern pop and produces memorable video clips featuring lush costumes that combine folk and fantasy elements. The group boasts of millions of views on streaming platforms, and in 2024, Otyken provided sound track for the annual Moscow Fashion Week show. 

Khanty-Mansiysk-based fashion designer Irina Satygina used AI to create her innovative collection of warm clothes, Mansi Hoodie. “When I was a little girl, I saw people wear traditional clothes in streets, and it defined the life in the North. They wore ornaments made of beads, reindeer shoes. I would like to bring back the magic of traditional clothing to modern people’s life by combining the traditions and new technologies we now have,” she said. 

A groups of artists in the Republic of Tatarstan established a movement they call ethnic avant guard 20 years ago. They call themselves avant-guardians and see their mission in creating art galleries in small villages and donating their works to the local people. 

Film critics have hailed Yakutian cinema a new Russian cultural brand, which keeps garnering international awards and captivating global audiences. “In Yakutia, local films outperform blockbusters like Spider-Man or The Matrix at the box office,” notes Yakutian filmmaker Sandal Baishev. 

A white wedding dress inspired by traditional ceremonial attire has breathed new life into an entire industry. Designer Madina Saralp reflects, “We’re seeing a phenomenal revival of interest in national costumes. It’s a way to counter globalization through fashion and stay true to our identity.” 

Russia’s Avant-Guardians will premiere on January 1, 2025, airing on RTDoc in English, RTД in Russian, and streaming for free on rt.doc.

About rt.doc

RT’s newly launched online documentary platform, rt.doc (https://en.rtdoc.tv/), is the first free streaming service showcasing documentaries from around the world. It currently offers over 700 films in Russian and English, including productions by RT, the MovieStart film collection, the St. Petersburg Diary series, and works by independent Russian documentary studios and filmmakers from Asia and Africa.

About RTDoc

RT Documentary TV channel (RTDoc) has produced over 1,000 documentaries since its launch, many of which have earned prestigious awards such as the New York Festivals, Telly Awards, and OMNI Intermedia Awards. For more information, visit https://rtd.rt.com/.

This year’s awards jury was chaired by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. Evaluating entries alongside her were RT Arabic war correspondent Sargon Hadaya and VGTRK frontline correspondent and Hero of Russia Yevgeny Poddubny.

In a video address, Simonyan thanked all the participants and offered her congratulations to the winners.

“Unfortunately, among the people nominated for this year’s awards, there are some who have tragically lost their lives. We can see firsthand how journalism is becoming one of the world’s most dangerous professions. We have seen journalists being deliberately targeted in war zones. Even now, there are threats made against journalists working in Syria. This year, our fellow journalist and good friend Yevgeny Poddubny was nearly killed. And the number of journalists and their families who have died in Gaza is beyond count. I would like to honor the memory of all those great men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of their homeland, their profession, for the right and the duty to speak the truth to the public,” Margarita Simonyan said.

In 2024, competing for the Khaled Alkhateb Awards were works by journalists from Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Russia, Azerbaijan and a number of other countries.

WINNERS:

1. Igor Lapik from Zvezda TV Channel (Russia) with a report from the frontlines of the Special Military Operation, focusing on the work of the Bars-6 UAV unit. During filming, the journalists came under attack from a Ukrainian kamikaze drone. 
2. Mohammed Baalousha from Al Mashhad TV (UAE) with a report on the destruction of the Al-Nasr Hospital in Gaza by Israeli forces. The journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike. He is being honored posthumously.
3. Omar Magomedov from NTV (Russia) for his coverage of frontline operations on the Donetsk axis, highlighting the work of Russian flamethrower units.

Nakhle Odaime from MTV (Lebanon) reported on the ongoing conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border. During filming, the journalists were caught in a rocket attack. For his report, Odaime has been awarded a special prize – an internship with RT Arabic.

In previous years, journalists from Russia, Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, the United States, Italy, Syria, and Yemen were among the winners of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards.

The RT network established the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards in memory of 25-year-old journalist Khaled Alkhateb, who collaborated with RT Arabic. He was killed in a rocket attack by militants in Syria’s Homs province in 2017 while covering clashes between government forces and terrorist groups. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree posthumously awarding him the Medal for Courage, which was presented to his family at the inaugural awards ceremony.

One of the Mexican Press Club awards went to the RT Reporta documentary program. RT Spanish reporter Helena Villar went to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, which had served for decades as a US Navy base.

Another award went to RT correspondent Camila Lozano Delgado for her interview with a senior representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s general staff, in which she explores the reasons preventing a long-lasting peace in this country.

The third Mexican Press Club award went to RT’s Erick Fonseca Zarate for his program La Lista de Erick Fonseca, dedicated to chasing the northern lights in Murmansk, Russia.

RT has previously won multiple awards at the National and International Journalism Contest held by the Mexican Press Club. A year ago, one of the awards went to the analytical program Ahí les va’, which covered the scandal around an SS Galicia Division veteran being honored in the Canadian parliament. Another award went to a documentary that focused on Tijuana, a Mexican border city that has in recent years become home to a lot of American expatriates.

In 2022, RT Spanish correspondents Boris Kuznetsov, Semyon Senderov and Mauricio Ampuero won a Mexican Press Club award for their coverage of the special military operation in Ukraine. An RT Reporta documentary on human trafficking in Florida, USA also received an award.

Over the years, RT has received the Mexican Press Club awards “For growth in multimedia and diversity in content of high social value” and “For contribution to the diversity of points of view,” among others. Additionally, RT Spanish has won the Best TV Channel award twice to date.

The Mexican Press Club’s Prize was established in 1952. Every year, a professional jury comprised of club members acknowledges prominent achievements by media organizations around the world.

“My children speak Chinese, so I appreciate the complexity of the language. I hope that the knowledge and skills that we will share with you will be useful in your future work,” said Margarita Simonyan, RT’s Editor-in-Chief.

The International Journalism course, which begins on November 5, 2024, will cover essential topics such as live broadcasting, content verification and combating fake news, filming and post-production, cross-cultural communication, social media strategies for news reporting and managing social media presence on Chinese platforms.

“Part of the program was developed by our Chinese specialists, who share deep knowledge about the specifics of working with Chinese social media platforms. Over the past few years, the RT China editorial team has accumulated a wealth of experience in this field, and we are glad to pass it on to our students,” said Vsevolod Pulya, head of RT China.

RT correspondents, anchors, producers and other media experts will lead master classes, sharing their expertise with both seasoned journalists and those just starting out in the profession.

Participants will gain insights into the full news production process, learn how to present effectively on-camera, conduct successful interviews, engage audiences on social media and produce high-quality video content.

Journalists and bloggers fluent in Chinese, as well as Chinese-speaking students and media professionals, are invited to participate. Applications can be submitted on the RT Academy website.

This initiative is backed by Russia’s Rossotrudnichestvo Agency, which supports cultural exchange.

In September 2024 RT Academy opened enrollment for its first educational course for journalists from African countries, receiving over 1,500 applications.

Launched in February 2024, the RT Academy international educational project initially focused on journalists from ASEAN and South Asian countries. Nearly 300 students have already completed the course, with many securing internships at RT’s regional bureaus.

RT established its educational program for aspiring journalists and bloggers – RT School – in Moscow in 2016. Today, it offers in-person courses for media enthusiasts, while its project RT School Online provides specialized Russian-language training and webinars accessible globally. RT Academy serves as the international educational project offering courses in foreign languages. Since its founding, over 2,000 individuals from more than 20 countries have been trained through RT School’s competitive programs, with many graduates joining the RT team.

The program represents the latest addition to RT’s expanding content lineup that focuses on the affairs of the Global South, with a special emphasis on the issues of colonial legacy.

Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba is a highly decorated scholar, author, a former director of the Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission and the Kenya School of Law. His academic, public and advocacy work has focused on the issues of Pan-Africanism and finding African solutions for African problems.

Remarking on his new program, Prof. Lumumba noted that “the history of Africa has always been told by others, and when one looks at the media one sees a very negative depiction of Africa. Via this platform that we’ll have through RT, we have an opportunity to showcase Africa that is not heaven, but it is not hell. My motivation with this show is to demonstrate that Africans are a people with a history, we are people with a purpose, we are people with conviction. Would this show be hosted by other channels? Channels underwritten by former colonizers? My answer is no.”

“Lumumba’s Africa” will examine the many dichotomies found on the African continent today: why are some of the economies of African nations thriving while others are stalling? Why certain conflicts emerge and how they die down – or refuse to do so for decades? Is colonialism gone forever from the continent, or do its echoes still undermine the prosperity, and the future as a whole, of the African countries?

“Professor Lumumba is recognized and respected across all of Africa. In this new, television endeavor he leaves no stone unturned in his effort to center issues specific to Africa yet resonant for the broader international community – from demographics to trade, from energy to environmental conservation, from culture to spirituality. We are excited to bring Professor Lumumba’s unique and compelling perspective to RT’s audiences worldwide, and with it to continue debunking colonialist narratives about Africa that remain pervasive in the Western mainstream media,” said Anna Belkina, RT’s Deputy Editor in Chief.

Prof. Lumumba joins an illustrious line-up of RT hosts past and present. The list includes leading international media and public personalities: former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, prolific Indian actor, best-selling author and motivational speaker Anupam Kher, broadcasting legend Larry King, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Pulitzer Prize winner and Emmy-nominated journalist Chris Hedges, the “most dangerous financial expert” Max Keiser, former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, top American news personality Rick Sanchez and French media icon Frédéric Taddeï, among others.

“Lumumba’s Africa” will air weekly on RT starting on October 3, at 15:30 MSK (12:30 UTC) and will be published online on rt.com. In addition to the English-language RT International channel, the show will also be available in French and Arabic.

RT is a global TV network providing news, current affairs, and documentaries in nine languages, and available to more than 800 million viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe. It is the only Russian TV channel to be an 11-time Emmy finalist and has been repeatedly recognized by numerous international awards competitions and media organizations, including the New York Festivals, Monte Carlo TV Festival Awards, the Cannes Lions, the Webby Awards, the Lovies, the Shorty Awards, the Association for International Broadcasting and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.

Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are awarded for the best news video reports from active conflict zones; materials submitted should be under 10 minutes in length. The winners will receive a cash prize and an opportunity to visit Moscow and take part in an experience-exchange program run by RT. 

In 2024, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan will preside over the jury. 

To apply, submit your entries at https://award.rt.com. 

Among past winners of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are journalists from Russia, Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, USA, Italy, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Argentina. 

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

The United States government has recently issued new sanctions against RT and its State Department announced a new “diplomatic campaign” – “to rally allies and partners around the world to join us in addressing the threat posed by RT....” 

Tonight, as part of RT’s response, the bright green RT logo is lighting up the façade of the US Embassy building in Moscow, with a message: “We’re not going away”. Not in the US, not in the West at large, not in the rest of the world. 

We will keep doing our jobs. 

See you around,                                                                                   

RT.

“We have found significant interest in RT Academy from African countries since the project’s inception earlier this year. We hope that this course will foster stronger collaboration between our media institutions, enhance mutual interest in regional events and contribute to expanding RT’s audience across Africa,” said Anna Kovtunova, head of RT’s Educational Projects.

The International Journalism course, which begins on October 14, 2024, will cover essential topics such as live broadcasting, content verification and combatting fake news, social media news media strategies, filming and post-production processes, and documentary filmmaking. RT correspondents, anchors, producers and media experts across various fields will lead master classes, sharing their expertise with both emerging and seasoned journalists. Participants will gain insights into the full news production process, learn how to present effectively on-camera, engage audiences on social media and produce high-quality video content.

Applications can be submitted on the RT Academy website – https://academy.rt.com/, with participants to be selected based on their performance in the competitive selection process.

This initiative is supported by the Rossotrudnichestvo Agency and regional media platforms.

Launched in February 2024, the RT Academy international educational project initially focused on journalists from ASEAN and South Asian countries. Nearly 300 students have already completed the course, with many securing internships at RT’s regional bureaus.

RT established its educational program for aspiring journalists and bloggers – RT School – in Moscow in 2016. Today, it offers in-person courses for media enthusiasts, while its project RT School Online provides specialized Russian-language training and webinars accessible globally. RT Academy serves as the international educational project offering courses in foreign languages. Since its founding, over 2,000 individuals from more than 20 countries have been trained through RT School’s competitive programs, with many graduates joining the RT team.

“In 2017, we paid a high price for covering the Syrian conflict. Our correspondent Khaled Alkhateb died at the hands of ISIS terrorists. To honor his memory and his heroic contribution to journalism, RT established annual awards for the best war correspondents from all over the world. We wish good luck to all participants and look forward to seeing you in Moscow!” commented Maya Manna, Head of RT Arabic.

Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are awarded for the best news video reports from active conflict zones; materials submitted should be under 10 minutes in length. The winners will receive a cash prize and an opportunity to visit Moscow and take part in an experience-exchange program run by RT.

In 2024, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan will preside over the jury.

To apply, submit your entries at https://award.rt.com. The entries will be accepted between July 30, 2024 and October 1, 2024.

Among past winners of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are journalists from Russia, Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, USA, Italy, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Argentina.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

During the program, airing on July 31 on RT, Oleg Kononenko explained what plants are grown on the ISS, what space sounds like, whether it’s possible to cry in zero gravity, as well as answered other questions from the program’s participants.

As for when people will be able to travel freely in Earth’s orbit, the cosmonaut suggested: “I think that this future is not so far away. This will all probably happen in the next 30 to 50 years.”

Viewers will also learn about what came before the creation of the ISS and what experiments are currently being conducted at the station. In addition, cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, who recently completed a mission and returned to Earth, leads viewers on an excursion along the longest route through the ISS.

Episodes of the show are available on all RT language websites, as well as on the channel’s social media platforms. 

In 2016, RT became the first TV channel in the world to virtually send its viewers into space, airing unique panoramic (360-degree) footage of the Earth, which was shot on board the ISS in collaboration with Roscosmos and the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. In 2018, the first-ever panoramic video shot in outer space, SPACEWALK 360, won the prestigious Shorty Awards.

The international television network RT offers news channels in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, and German, along with a documentary channel, RTD, available in Russian and English. The network includes online portals in seven languages, including Serbian and Russian, and the global multimedia agency RUPTLY, which provides exclusive content to TV channels worldwide. RT can be found on popular Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, Bilibili, and Douyin, as well as Hindi-language social media platforms. RT broadcasts 24/7 to over 800 million viewers in more than 100 countries.

The project’s episodes will be available on RT’s TV broadcast and websites in all of RT’s broadcast languages – https://www.rt.com/. 

Viewers will be able to connect with the cosmonauts via a live teleconference and will also learn about space projects and developments, see exclusive footage from the ISS, and hear stories of famous space enthusiasts in BRICS countries. 

“The ‘Starbound’ project is our joint contribution to bringing space closer to people. Being in orbit, a cosmonaut gets a unique opportunity to see our planet from afar, to understand how beautiful and fragile it is, and that it is our shared home that needs to be protected. I am confident that during interactions with people from various countries, the Russian ISS crew members will not only talk about their work but will also help humanity learn to love the place we all live in – planet Earth,” said Yury Borisov, head of Roscosmos. 

In the first episode, questions from Indians will be answered by the Russian cosmonaut on the ISS, Oleg Kononenko, who holds the world record for total time spent in orbit. The first Indian cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union Rakesh Sharma, will also ask a question. Additionally, the first episode will cover Soviet and Russian Space projects and co-operation with India. 

“When we go up there and have a look down at Earth, you don’t see the borders. And you see how all of our destinies really are interconnected. From a human perspective, it doesn’t make sense to go thousands of kilometers and say that I’m from America. You are from planet Earth. So start thinking. Not nationally, but globally,” said Rakesh Sharma. 

The live broadcast with the ISS will be moderated by an RT host from the channel’s studio in Moscow, along with Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, who recently completed his mission and returned to Earth. 

Anyone can send questions for the ISS cosmonauts to the email address: starbound@rttv.ru. The authors of the most unusual and interesting questions will receive prizes, including the grand prize – a trip to the Vostochny Cosmodrome to witness a rocket launch firsthand. 

In 2016, RT became the first media outlet in the world to ‘send’ viewers to space by showing unique panoramic footage of Earth taken aboard the ISS in collaboration with Roscosmos and Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. In 2018, the first-ever panoramic video shot in open space, SPACEWALK 360, won the prestigious Shorty Awards. 

With its first international channel launched in 2005, RT is now a global TV news network providing current affairs coverage, breaking stories and documentaries in nine languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi and Russian. Its sister multimedia news agency RUPTLY provides livestreaming, video on demand, archive footage and broadcast services. RT is available in Chinese on popular Chinese social media platforms – Weibo, Bilibili, and Douyin, and is also present on social networks in Hindi. RT is now available to more than 800 million TV viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe.

“The disappointment I felt when my government denied me the opportunity to appear in person in Saint Petersburg was great. However, through the miracle of modern technology, my voice will not be silenced by those who disagree with the messages it carries”, Scott Ritter said.

The RT session will take place as part of the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum’s Transition To A Multipolar World Economy program on June 7. Live broadcast of the discussion will be available via the links on Rumble, X, in VK and Facebook.

Western political elites and media have spent decades cultivating a negative image of Russia. Over the past two years demonization of Russia has reached new levels. The country is now seen as a threat to the whole of Europe. Claims that the conflict in Ukraine is just the first step have become axiomatic in Western discourse. The session will discuss the West’s prolonged PR effort to demonize Russia and assess whether the public in NATO countries have been convinced that Russia is a threat to them and whether EU member-states are in agreement with the US.

“Western propaganda is failing. The US leadership is insisting on vilifying Russia as an enemy, but the people of America know that this is the Biden regime’s greed and abuse of power – to continue endless wars. The American people have had enough of this and they no longer believe the lies about Russia. It will show this November during the election, as the people will speak. In the words of Vladimir Putin, “The vampire ball is over;” now is the time of innovation and the end of Western hegemony. It is truly a multipolar world and the US will participate in it as a cooperative partner or be left behind,” said Tara Reade, author, journalist and former aide to US President Joseph Biden.

In addition to Tara Reade, the discussion will be joined by Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Karin Kneissl; political commentator and influencer Jackson Hinkle; president of the German-Russian Bismarck Dialogue organization and descendant of Otto von Bismarck, Alexander von Bismarck; United Nations Special Commission weapons inspector Scott Ritter.

The session will be moderated by RT host and correspondent Oksana Boyko.

RT is a global TV news network providing news, current affairs and documentaries in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi and Russian; it is available to more than 800 mln TV viewers in more than 100 countries around the world. The network also includes global multimedia news agency RUPTLY.

In his show, Kher speaks with India’s leading minds from a cross-section of society. Together, they unpack the complexities behind the emergence of their nation as one of the most prominent members of ‘the Global South’ community and a global economic powerhouse, as well as the country’s soft power influence and leadership in cutting-edge technology and innovation. The spirit of the show also aims to capture the vibrant diversity of India’s 1.4 billion people.

“I am happy to partner with RT and look forward to showing more of India’s incredible personalities from all walks of life and their perspectives on Bharat. RT has amazing diverse international voices and being a part of that world is exciting,” Kher commented on the launch of his series.

In the first episodes of the program, Kher interviews serial entrepreneurs Ronnie Screwvala and Anupam Mittal, legal eagles Satish Maneshinde and Mahesh Jethmalani, film director Madhur Bhandarkar, Academy award-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor and music composer M. M. Keeravani, best-selling author Amish Tripathi and singer Sonu Nigam, amongst others, to expound on how India has established a distinct and powerful voice in a fast-changing modern world.

❗️RT Premiere: ‘Let’s Talk Bharat’ - Decoding India’s Spirit with @AnupamPKher

Deep-dive into the vibrant heart of India with RT’s pioneering Indian introspective.

Join cinematic titan Anupam Kher on a journey through the nation’s rich cultural mosaic with the country’s… pic.twitter.com/ffltnagppW

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) March 6, 2024

Anupam Kher has starred in over 500 feature films in multiple languages, including several international films such as the Golden Globe-nominated “Bend it Like Beckham” (2002), American TV series “New Amsterdam (2018), Hollywood drama “Mistress of Spices” (2006), Ang Lee’s Golden Lion-winning romantic thriller “Caution, Lust” (2007) and David O. Russell’s Academy award-winning “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012). He has made a mark in adapting to the changing face of Indian and world cinema over the last four decades by playing a diverse range of roles. The 30-minute weekly show goes on air globally in English starting on March 11, 2024 at 9 pm Indian Standard Time.

Anupam Kher is also a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee for his contribution to Indian cinema and arts.

Viewers can catch the show on DTH platforms such as Siti Cable (WWIL) — channel 431, Seven Star (7 Star) — channel 161, In Cable/NXT — channel 389/776, DishTV — channel 792, Airtel — channel 404, Tata Play — channel 643, Hathway/GTPL Hathway – channel 855/292, Sun Direct — channel 577, DD Free Dish — channel 94 and on the JIO Fiber cable network. Highlights of “Let’s Talk Bharat with Anupam Kher” will also be available on RT’s social media platforms.

ABOUT RT

RT is a global television network, providing news, current affairs and documentaries in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Chinese, Hindi and Russian. RT International, the network’s English-language news channel, is available to viewers around the world. Launched in 2005, it focuses on around-the-clock coverage of international events. RT creates news with an edge for viewers, who want to Question More. Throughout the years, RT has worked with leading international media and public sphere personalities, including renowned broadcasting legend Larry King, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Pulitzer-prize winner and Emmy-nominated journalist Chris Hedges, the “most dangerous financial expert” Max Keiser, former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, legendary football coach José Mourinho, top American news personality Rick Sanchez, and French media icon Frédéric Taddeï, among others. It has been nominated for 11 Emmy Awards and is the winner of the Monte Carlo’s Golden Nymph Award for Best 24-hour News Coverage.

The RT Academy program takes a comprehensive approach to the news creation process – from pitching a story to newsgathering and post-production and distribution. It covers best practices of working with social media, finding and creating high-quality video content, using a variety of technical tools in news production, and more. Top specialists from RT – executives, news presenters, correspondents, producers, content creators, and social media managers – will share their experience with content verification, opinion blogging, building a community around your media brand, using AI in news production, on-camera delivery, conducting great interviews, and much more.

The courses are free of charge and will begin on April 1, 2024. Applications can be submitted on the RT Academy website.

“RT’s educational and mentorship projects are now reaching an international audience. Our colleagues from the ASEAN countries will be the first to take the course, and we look forward to offering our classes to journalists from Africa, India, and other regions in the near future,” Anna Kovtunova, the head of educational projects at RT, said.

“There is a great interest in RT’s content and its educational projects in Southeast Asia,” Denis Bolotsky, the head of RT’s office in Indonesia, says. “We saw that at our journalism seminars in Jakarta in September 2023. Now, besides requests from Indonesian citizens, we are already receiving applications from Vietnam, the Philippines, and other ASEAN nations. The interest is mutual. They learn from us, we gain experience working in Global South countries.”

Additionally, in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Media Academy (ABU Media Academy), RT Academy will hold a number of webinars for journalists from ABU member outlets. The first webinar will take place on February 22, 2024 and feature RT’s Russia Beyond project head Vsevolod Pulya, who will share his expertise in creating communities around a brand on social media platforms.

The ASEAN nations are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

RT is a global TV news network providing news, current affairs, and documentaries in nine languages, which is now available to more than 800 million viewers in more than 100 countries around the globe. It is the only Russian TV channel to be an 11-time Emmy finalist and holds dozens of medals from the New York Festivals for its documentary and news programming, and has been repeatedly recognized by numerous international awards competitions and media organizations, including the Monte Carlo TV Festival Awards, the Cannes Lions, the Webby Awards, the Lovies, the Shorty Awards, the Association for International Broadcasting, and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Throughout the years, RT has worked with leading international media and public personalities, including broadcasting legend Larry King, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Pulitzer Prize winner and Emmy-nominated journalist Chris Hedges, the “most dangerous financial expert” Max Keiser, former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, legendary football coach José Mourinho, top American news personality Rick Sanchez, and French media icon Frédéric Taddeï, among others.

The 2023 Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards has four nominations: Best Video Journalism From A Conflict Zone, Best Written Journalism From A Conflict Zone, Best Humanitarian Video Journalism, and Best Humanitarian Written Journalism, contested by journalistic works in six languages from 14 countries.

THE WINNERS:

1. BEST VIDEO JOURNALISM FROM A CONFLICT ZONE.

— Ghazi Al-Aloul (Gaza, Palestine), Gaza. Сonsequences, Roya TV (Jordan).

In this series of reports from Gaza, which continues to suffer bombings by the Israeli army, the author profiles the deaths of reporters covering the events, the work of hospitals amid hostilities, and the lives of refugees.

2. BEST WRITTEN JOURNALISM FROM A CONFLICT ZONE.

— Sergei Prudnikov, A Series of Reports from Donbass, Izvestia newspaper (Russia).

A series of reports on the life of frontline towns in the Donetsk People’s Republic in mid-2022. The author portrays the consequences of one of the most savage shellings of Donetsk by the Ukrainian army, the return to relative calm in Volnovakha, where the fighting had just ended, and the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol.

3. BEST HUMANITARIAN VIDEO JOURNALISM.

— Sebastian Salgado, Freedom Tango in Lugansk, Data Urgente (Argentina).

To shoot this documentary series, the Argentinian journalist went in August 2022 to the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. The series centers on stories of local residents and how the frontline region is now recovering after the hostilities.

4. BEST HUMANITARIAN WRITTEN JOURNALISM.

— Sara Salloum (Syria), The guns fell silent…, Al Mayadeen English (Lebanon).

In this series of articles on post-war life in some regions of Syria, Sara Salloum talks about the humanitarian crisis due to lack of water and food, growing child labor exploitation, and the danger posed by uncleared landmines.

This year, the Awards jury includes VGTRK war correspondent Evgeny Poddubny; Ahmed Gomma, Editor-in-Chief of Youm7 newspaper (Egypt); Amro Abdelhamid, main presenter at the inter-Arabic TV channel Al Ghad; Muhammad Ballout, Lebanese war correspondent and Coordinator of the Thinking and Policy Analysis Unit at the Center for Arab Unity Studies; and Ayanda Hollow, president of TV BRICS Africa. The jury also included RT correspondents Salam Musafir (RT Arabic), Semyon Senderov (RT Spanish), and Thomas Roeper (RT DE).

Over the previous years, the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards went to journalists from Russia, Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, the United States, Italy, Syria, and Yemen.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic freelance correspondent Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

The Studio Algeria program is the fifth in RT Arabic’s series of talk shows from the world capitals of Cairo, Beirut, Washington and Paris. Yasmine Moussous, the show’s host and RT Arabic’s bureau chief in Algeria, discusses important news and events with local politicians and experts. The first episode’s guest was former Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem.

“Our aim is to get more in touch with our audiences, to expand the scope of our cooperation with Algeria, and provide extensive coverage of the developments across the African region. From our office in Algeria, we will now share with our audience the Algerian perspective on current events”, said Maya Manna, the head of RT Arabic.

Reporters from RT Arabic’s bureau in Algeria have covered many important regional events, including the military coup in Niger, the BRICS summit in South Africa and the African Union summit in Ethiopia.

The other new program on RT Arabic, Bridges to the East, is dedicated to Russia’s cooperation with the Arab world in the economic, political, cultural, military and other areas. Politicians, experts, businessmen, Russian language teachers, musicians and ordinary people talk on the show about what Russia means to them and what connects them to the country.

“We not only discuss politics and history, but also taste local cuisine and study the culture of Arab countries. We introduce our viewers to the daily lives of people and discover the Arab region from the most unexpected angles,” RT Arabic correspondent and the show’s host, Anna Knishenko, said.

The program will be available in both Arabic and Russian. The first episode, dedicated to Algeria, features interviews with the country’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

One of the Mexican Press Club awards went to the analytical program Ahí les va. Its host Mirko Casale offers an ironic perspective on political developments in Latin America and the world. The award-winning episode covers the scandal around an SS Galicia Division veteran honored in the Canadian parliament. 

Another award went to RT Reporta documentary, Americans in Mexico. Divided Between Two Countries. Its author Paola Guzman went to Tijuana, a city on the US-Mexican border that had recently become home to lots of Americans who prefer to live in Mexico. 

“For almost fourteen years, RT Spanish has been covering global news. It is a great honor for us that our content is noted not only by our viewers, but also by the jury of the Mexican Press Club,” said Alexander Luchaninov, Deputy Head of RT Spanish, who also received a personal award. 

“RT Spanish plays an important role as it offers a different perspective on international developments and broadcasts valuable alternative coverage, helping maintain information balance in the media. We are very pleased by the fact that RT has gained recognition here and occupies a well-deserved position in Mexico’s media space,” said Nikolai Sofinski, Russian Ambassador to Mexico. 

RT Spanish has been distinguished with the Mexican Press Club Awards many times. Most recently, in 2022, RT Spanish correspondents Boris Kuznetsov, Semyon Senderov and Mauricio Ampuero won the award for their coverage of the special military operation in Ukraine. 

Previously, Mexican Press Club has distinguished RT’s Ahí les va, an information and analytical program, and RT Reporta documentary on human trafficking in Florida, USA. 

Still earlier, RT Spanish received the Mexican Press Club awards “For Growth in Multimedia and Diversity in Content of High Social Value” and “For contribution to the diversity of points of view,” among others. Also, RT Spanish has won the Best TV Channel award twice to date. 

The Mexican Press Club’s Prize was established in 1952. A professional jury comprised of club members annually acknowledges prominent achievements by media organizations around the world.

The first episode in the series will air on the 50th anniversary of the military takeover in Chile against the country’s leader Salvador Allende, who was killed in an attack on the presidential palace. His grandson, Pablo Sepúlveda Allende, will appear as a guest, sharing his family’s memories of the life and personality of their ancestor, as well as joining the host in a conversation about the traumatic aftermath of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorial rule – something the Chilean nation experiences to this day.

“My friends, I am thrilled to return to you with the fifth season of ‘A Conversation with Correa’, our talk show that we started back in 2018 with RT en Español and their amazing team. I invite you to join us for this new season which promises to be very exciting, given the caliber of guests we’ll be having and the stories they will tell us. See you soon!” said Correa.

In the new season of ‘A Conversation with Correa’, the audience will have a chance to see Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, former president and current Vice President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, former Bolivian president Evo Morales, former president of Honduras Manuel Zelaya, and other prominent figures talk about coups in their respective countries. Correa himself will also share his memories of a plot against him in 2010.

‘A Conversation with Correa’ originally premiered on RT on March 1, 2018.

Rafael Correa is the former president of Ecuador (2007-2017). He holds a PhD in economics and is the founder of the PAIS Alliance, a political movement based on 21st century socialist ideology. Correa has written numerous scientific articles and books on the economic problems facing the world today.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are granted in the following categories:

- Best Journalism From A Conflict Zone – for works putting the spotlight on the day-to-day events, complexities and ramifications of continuous war and armed conflict.

- Best Humanitarian Journalism – for stories focused on efforts to assist civilians and refugees, as well as to rebuild communities and return to peaceful life.

The winners will each get a monetary prize of 200,000 rubles.

Reports in all formats (texts or video materials) should be submitted at https://award.rt.com.

The recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards have included journalists from Iraq, Ireland, Singapore, Russia, the US, Italy, India, Syria and Yemen. These works have covered conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Mozambique, Philippines, Ukraine, and their aftermath.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

Tundra Wonder Mums, a documentary by RT, has won in the Best Feature Documentary category. The film tells the story of housewives who make their nomad homes comfortable in the austere tundra environment.

The award ceremony followed the Malaysian Walk The Doc 2023 film festival held on Langkawi Island on August 1-3. Among the event’s highlights was a workshop by RTDoc’s film director Artyom Vorobey on documentary production. Also, an RTDoc film called Hot Race. Cold Dogs, about the world’s longest dogsled race in the Far North, was screened at the festival.

Since its launch in 2011, RTDoc has produced over 1,000 films, some of which received prestigious international awards, including New York Festivals, Telly Awards and OMNI Intermedia Awards. RTDoc films have scooped up dozens of international awards and garnered millions of views on social media.

RTDoc is a documentary channel broadcasting in Russian and English that is part of RT’s global network. It offers its viewers documentaries, TV series and specials, interviews and political talk shows. RTDoc films focus on important political and social issues, R&D achievements, lifestyle and traditions of peoples living in Russia and across the globe.

Malaysia’s Walk The Doc International Documentary Festival is held with support from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Descendants of Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Oliver Tambo and Ahmed Ben Bella will participate in a session titled Pan-Africanism: Origins, Relevance and Future. The discussion will focus on the role of Pan-Africanism in the forming of Africa's future and in the context of the continent's long-standing friendship with Russia. This session will be the first to bring together political and media figures such as Ndileka Mandela, Roland Lumumba, Nomatemba Tambo, Josina Machel and others. The discussion will be moderated by Moussa Ibrahim, head of RT’s Africa bureau.

RT Arabic host Salam Musafir will moderate a discussion titled Multipolar Media World: The Role of Africa's Arab Countries Amid the New Reality of International Relations. The panel will include speakers from Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan and Mauritania.

RT will also host two more sessions – Media of the Global South: New Formats, Technologies and Narratives in Africa and The Role of Video Content in Improving Coverage Quality And its Applications for Media Businesses: Harnessing Digital Technologies to Benefit Russia and Africa.

RT has arranged for more than 140 journalists, editors-in-chief and directors of major African state media companies to attend the Russia-Africa forum. These include the CEO of the African Union of Broadcasting, Secretary General of the Union of OIC News Agencies, Chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation; representatives of Morocco and Somalia media regulators; directors and editors-in-chief of state media in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Mali, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and the Comoros; pan-African TV networks such as Afrique Media and Africa 24; major private TV stations from a number of countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Tunisia; and prominent private TV networks in South Africa (TV BRICS) and Ghana (Pan African Television). Sessions will also be attended by board members of public and private TV channels representing a number of other countries.

The full program of the Russia-Africa Forum is available at: https://summitafrica.ru/en/programme/business-programme/.

The Awards’ jury has selected the following winners:

1. BEST JOURNALISM FROM A CONFLICT ZONE – VIDEO

– Valentin Trushnin, “Monastery: Through Heaven and Hell,” Izvestia / REN TV Channel

The Donetsk People’s Republic militia evacuates the Nikolsky Monastery, shelled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

2. BEST JOURNALISM FROM A CONFLICT ZONE – WRITTEN

– Alexander Kots, “Fighting Outside Kiev: Gostomel Warriors,” Komsomolskaya Pravda

The war correspondent reports on Russian paratroopers holding the defense line, under fire for a month at an airfield near Kiev.

3. BEST HUMANITARIAN JOURNALISM – VIDEO

– Regina Orekhova, “Civilians,” TOK project, Rossiya Segodnya Media Group

Misha travels from the Russian city of Kaluga to the Donetsk People’s Republic in search of his fiancée Katya, who went on a visit to her parents before the special military operation started in February 2022. He hasn’t heard from her since, and is trying to reach the city of Mariupol to bring Katya home to Russia. A documentary with breathtaking footage telling the real stories that are hard to believe.

4. BEST HUMANITARIAN JOURNALISM – WRITTEN

– Maria Marikyan, “They Might Come Back,” RIA Novosti News Agency

The town of Popasnaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic is no longer under heavy fire as it was during the summer, but occasionally the air raid alert blares out. Most of the buildings have been reduced to rubble, yet a few dozen people continue to live here with no gas, electricity or water, and sometimes even no food. They don’t want to leave their home. This report is about their life in Popasnaya.

In 2022, the judging was conducted by VGTRK war correspondents Evgeny Poddubny, Anton Stepanenko and Alexander Lukyanov, as well as Rossiya Segodnya’s Executive Director, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Kirill Vyshinksy. Accompanying them were RT war correspondents Valentin Gorshenin, Murad Gazdiev, Sargon Hadaya and Semen Senderov, RT Arabic journalist Salam Musafir and RT Balkan’s Editor-in-Chief Jelena Milincic.

Past recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards included journalists from India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Syria, the United States and Yemen.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic freelance reporter Khaled Alkhateb, who was killed by an ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

“Perhaps nowhere in the world were we more eagerly awaited, than here. And so I would like to speak to our dear Serbian friends in their own language: “Браћо, гледајте RT,” RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said.

“From now on the people in the region will have access to RT in Serbian, which will provide them with a more complete picture of the world today. Becoming an integral part of the Balkans’ media space is a big challenge, yet one that we are ready for,” RT Balkan Editor-in-Chief Jelena Milincic said.

In addition to its website (rt.rs), RT Balkan is also available in Telegram (Serbian: https://t.me/rtbalkan, Russian: https://t.me/rtbalkan_ru), as well as on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/rtbalkan.rs/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rtbalkan/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/rtbalkan), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@rtbalkan) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7xmkZ-0yOHnvdmSaUE4duQ).

Acclaimed Serbian film director Emir Kusturica noted RT’s high standards, saying that “[t]he Russian RT channel is the best example of what television should look like, [and is a far cry from] BBC and CNN, which broadcast one-sided information.”

RT Balkan Editor-in-Chief Jelena Milincic was born in Serbia and worked as a correspondent and host at RT Spanish since its launch. She co-authored the documentary Zashto? (WHY?), which marked the fifteenth anniversary of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The documentary was shortlisted by the AIB Media Excellence Awards and won the CUBAVISIÓN contest as part of the Cuban Radio and Television Festival.

RT’s international TV network includes news platforms in English, Arabic, Spanish, French and German, as well as RT Documentary channel, which broadcasts in English and Russian and the sister multimedia news agency RUPTLY that provides livestreaming, video on demand, archive footage and broadcast services. In 2020, RT became the first TV news network in the world to hit ten billion views across its channels on YouTube. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be an eleven-time Emmy finalist.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are granted in the following categories:

- Best Journalism From A Conflict Zone – for coverage of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

- Best Humanitarian Journalism – for stories focused on efforts to assist civilians and refugees, as well as to rebuild communities and return to peaceful life.

The winners will each get a monetary prize of 200,000 rubles.

Reports in all formats (texts or video materials) should be submitted at https://award.rt.com. 

The first recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards in the inaugural year of the competition in 2018 were from Iraq, Ireland and Singapore. In 2019, the prizes were claimed by correspondents from Russia, the US, Italy and India, and in 2020, by contestants from Russia, Syria and India. In 2021, the jury of international and Russian journalists awarded the prize to reporters from Russia, the US and Yemen.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists.

“In 2019, we reached the highest number of unique website visitors among all international news channels in Arabic and we have retained our leading position ever since. Interest in the Russian viewpoint has been growing in the Arab world in proportion to the intensity and successfulness of Russia’s efforts in this region,” said Maya Manna, head of RT Arabic.

RT Arabic is the most popular website among all news channels in Arabic, with the highest number of site visits and unique users. It has left behind Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, CNN Arabic, Sky News Arabia, and others (SimilarWeb, February 2022).

In February 2022, amid the events in Ukraine, American social media platforms either blocked or restricted RT accounts. When RT Arabic was blocked on YouTube, it had 7 million subscribers and 4 billion views, leaving behind the Arabic versions of CNN, Sky News, DW, France 24 and Euronews. On Twitter, RT Arabic had over 5 million followers, ranking above the Arabic-language versions of DW and Sky News.

Every day, RT Arabic journalists report from combat zones in Ukraine and have come under fire multiple times. In addition to covering the course of the special operation, they collect and deliver humanitarian aid and help people evacuate and find their families. RT Arabic also covers military conflicts around the world, including those in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Israel.

RT Arabic has repeatedly won or has been nominated for international awards, including the AIB Awards, New York Festivals and Promax BDA, as well as the Al Ghadeer International Festival held in Iraq. RT Arabic journalists have received awards from Iraq’s National Trade Union of Journalists and Syria’s Union of Journalists. In 2021, two RT Arabic programs won bronze at the Telly Awards, and in 2020, another program took silver. In 2022, an exclusive RT Arabic report from a Palestinian hospital that admitted victims of Israeli airstrikes reached the finals of the New York Festivals.

RT’s large-scale #VictoryPages project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Allied and USSR victory in the Great Patriotic War/Second World War took gold in the Campaign — Brand and Research Projects/Publications categories. The project tells the story of WWII across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube.

RT’s VR film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, won gold in the Special Projects category. The War: Kids’ drawings in VR animation video series also became a gold winner in this category. This project revives wartime children’s drawings through virtual reality, created by top VR artists.

The Endless Letter, RT’s social media project, created in collaboration with students from the Moscow RANEPA Design School, as well as renowned artists Peter Bankov and Mikhail Sorkin, was awarded gold in Campaign — Brand category. The Endless Letter is a unique graphic series featuring missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them.

RT’s large-scale, cross-platform, multimedia project #Romanovs100, launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, took gold award in the Research Projects/Publications category. #Romanovs100, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was launched across four social media platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thousands of photographs from the Romanov family archive were published, making this the most complete photo collection of the royal family to ever be created.

Held for the first time in 2022, The Anthem Awards was established by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), which also presents the “Oscars of the Internet” — The Webby Awards.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are granted in the following categories: Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone; Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone; Best Humanitarian Journalism: After the War – a new category introduced in 2021. It honors both video and written reportage on post-conflict recovery, ranging from individual human stories to the efforts of broader communities. 

THE WINNERS:

1. Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone

– Alexander Lukyanov (Russia), ‘Rumbling Silence’, Russia 24.

The reporter goes to the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) front lines to see with his own eyes how the ceasefire is being implemented, and nearly comes under fire himself. On the Donbass line of contact, DPR representatives increasingly report that Ukrainian forces have been violating the July 2020 ceasefire agreement. Prisoner-of-war exchanges have been suspended, and DPR negotiations are proving fruitless. Special correspondent Alexander Lukyanov reports. 

2. Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone

– Anuj Chopra (United States), ‘Battles and Bloodshed in Yemen’s Marib’, AFP.

An on-the-ground report from Marib, Yemen, as Houthi rebels ramp up a scorched-earth offensive to seize the city, triggering a humanitarian crisis and prompting local tribe members to join the fight to save the strategic, oil-rich city. 

3. Best Humanitarian Journalism: After the War

– Rania Abdallah (Yemen), ‘Life, Terminated’, YEMEN-TV.

The documentary covers the ongoing armed conflict in southwestern Yemen, which drove 38 families to flee to a remote mountainous area in the al-Mafir district of Taiz Governorate, where they were left with no means of survival. As the Covid-19 pandemic spread, the refugees’ plight worsened. Poor sanitary conditions have led to complications during childbirth and frequent miscarriages. 

– Neha Wadekar (United States), ‘The Hidden Story Behind the Fight for Cabo Delgado’, The Telegraph.

Since 2017, the conflict in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique has displaced over 800,000 and killed thousands more. Villages have been ravaged by ISIS-affiliated militants who have propelled the insurgency to the global stage. This conflict has mostly been characterized as the spread of terrorism in Africa, but its root causes are far more complex. The report examined the fight over natural gas, precious stones, and illicit trading, and investigated how government marginalization created ripe conditions for an insurgency. 

The winners will each receive a monetary prize of 200,000 rubles, or its foreign currency equivalent, which, at the date of announcement, is approximately $2,700, or €2,400. 

This year, the judging panel includes Evgeny Poddubny, a war correspondent whose work in Syria and Ukraine brought him three TEFI awards; Alexander Kots, a journalist and a war correspondent, recipient of several state awards and decorations for war journalism; and Maria Finoshina, an RT war correspondent who covered recent major conflicts and protests around the world. They were joined by Eva Golinger, journalist, writer, and expert on US and Latin America foreign policy; Ahmed Gomaa, expert on Arab affairs, correspondent for Egypt’s Youm7 newspaper; and Konstantinos Antonopoulos, Greek journalist and winner of various international awards. 

The first recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards in the inaugural year of the competition in 2018 were from Iraq, Ireland, and Singapore. In 2019, journalists from Russia, the United States, Italy, and India took top honors for their reports about conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In 2020, awards were claimed by reporters from Russia, Syria, and India. 

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic freelancer Khaled Alkhateb, who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin honored Khaled Alkhateb posthumously with the Medal for Courage.

German-language television channel RT DE - part of the RT network - began its broadcasting from Moscow and to multiple European countries, via a Serbia-issued license on 16.12.2021. The license had been obtained in accordance with all applicable European laws and regulations, under the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. Schmid falsely claimed that the new channel is based in Berlin - perhaps missing the extensive coverage of RT DE’s launch from RT’s Moscow headquarters, where RT DE’s newsroom, VCR, on-air studio, post-production facilities, broadcasting complex etc. are all located. He further said, that despite the utmost transparency and legality of all of RT activities in Germany, the new channel is an irritant but “will be taken care of.”

Now Schmid is attempting to use his authority, as well as that of his and other German organizations, to pressure independent European satellite operators to breach contract and terminate RT DE’s broadcasting - an action that we consider not just misguided but grossly inappropriate and in violation of RT DE’s legal rights.

RT DE covers the local, regional, national and international stories most affecting the German-speaking world. The channel, and its accompanying digital platforms, deliver RT’s trademark style of news for viewers who seek to “Question More” - shedding light on issues and perspectives that are often overlooked by other German-language news outlets.

“The degree of resistance and hostility with which RT was met in Germany is unlike anything we encountered in any other country or part of the world. At the same time, the German public turned out to be very welcoming. This is evidenced by the immense popularity of RT DE's online and social media platforms - even without the benefit of a full-fledged broadcast TV channel, until now. Going forward, we will do our best to live up to the expectations of our German-speaking TV audiences as well,” said Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT.

RT DE programming will be broadcast all over Europe, aiming at countries with sizeable German-speaking audiences: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and others. The new channel welcomes an array of new talent to the RT network, including celebrated German media manager, producer and writer Oliver Brendel, as its Head of Program Development. RT DE hosts a wide spectrum of original shows produced in Moscow and Berlin, alongside bringing industry leading and award-winning programming from across the global, multilingual RT network to German-speaking audiences for the first time.

“We have found that audiences in Germany are growing ever more interested in RT, and we are happy that now, instead of just reading our content online, they can watch it on TV. Our viewers also want to know what modern Russia is all about, what it looks like on the inside – and we will deliver that as well,” said Dinara Toktosunova, CEO of RT DE Productions.

RT DE will be available across the DACH region via its multi-platform offer of satellite broadcast, online and social media. Viewers can likewise access content via the RT app on Smart TVs and all major mobile app stores, as well as across further platforms arriving soon. For more details on where to watch in your area visit de.rt.com/LiveTV.

RT DE on-air shows include:

Der Tag Am Abend (The Day in The Evening)

A talk-show that addresses the day´s top news stories featuring host Zukaina Grunow - bringing viewers the guests they want to see, answering questions viewers want answers to.

Ausgewandert Nach Russland (Emigrated to Russia)

This revelatory docuseries explores the issue: is it possible to live happily in Russia? This question will be answered by German emigrants and citizens of other Western European countries: artists, actors, athletes, who are living in different regions of the Russian Federation.

Kartoffelmus (Mashed Potatoes)

An overview of the week's highlights, styled as a cooking show. In each episode, host Zukaina Grunow tackles a new dish and, in the process, gives her hot take on the most high-profile news events.

Fassbender Woche (Fasbender’s Week)

Fassbender’s Woche is a weekly program by the publicist Thomas Fasbender, in which the presenter analyses the main political, economic and social trends in the German-speaking region in his blunt yet ironic manner.

Priwjet Matas! (Hello Matas!)

In the great tradition of German satire, this program by Alexander Matas sees the author wittily explore stereotypes of various international communities that make up Germany.

Fasbender im Gespräch (In Conversation with Fasbender)

RT DE´s weekend interview program features host, Thomas Fasbender, uncovering the views of guests who are not quite courted by the German media establishment.

Money Talks

Rolf Ostmann, a financial consultant and scholar from Switzerland, comments on macro and micro economic issues - from the perspective of how they affect everyday people - in conversation with finance experts.

Going Underground

An RT International hit, where three times a week host Afshin Rattansi and his team go underground to discover the stories that aren’t being covered by the mainstream media. From government operations to the Occupy protests, and everything else in between, Going Underground is here to bring its fresh global perspective to German audiences for the first time.

CrossTalk

CrossTalk is RT International’s flagship debate program. It presents hot-topic discussions on politics, business, newsmakers, global trends, present-day conflicts, and dangers and challenges facing our world. Host Peter Lavelle poses hard, straightforward questions to his guests, and demands concrete answers in response.

‘#VictoryPages,’ RT’s large-scale historical social media project, won bronze prizes in two categories, including Television/Streaming: Social Media – Social Content Campaign. #VictoryPages tells the story of World War II through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube.

RT’s VR film ‘Lessons of Auschwitz,’ dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Nazi concentration camp by Soviet troops, won three silver and one bronze Clio Entertainment awards.

The ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ series also snatched a bronze and three silver awards. The project features wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists.

‘Endless Letter,’ RT’s social media project, created in collaboration with students from the Moscow RANEPA Design School, as well as renowned artists Peter Bankov and Mikhail Sorkin, was awarded two silver and one bronze awards. ‘Endless Letter’ is a unique graphic series featuring missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them. ‘Endless Letter: Web Experience’ also took a Clio Entertainment silver.

Established in 1971, Clio Entertainment is one of the most prestigious awards competitions in the field of advertising and film and television promotion. The jury includes representatives from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Universal Pictures, and other major content producers.

RT’s #VictoryPages scored gold in the Social Networks category. The project tells the story of WWII across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube. The project has already won recognition at the Webby Awards, Epica Awards, Promax Awards, Cresta Awards, D&AD (Design and Art Direction Awards), ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot Awards, Digiday Awards, New York Festivals and other international competitions.

In 2021, RT’s competitors at Epica Awards included such large global brands as Amazon, Heinz and Burger King, among others.

RT’s projects were previously distinguished with a total of seven Epica Awards for creativity. In 2020, RT’s Endless Letter Instagram project, Lessons of Auschwitz VR project and War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation project scored gold, silver and bronze respectively. In 2019, RT’s AR book for #Romanovs100 project won Epica’s silver. RT’s #1917LIVE project scooped bronze in three categories in 2017 and 2018.

Founded in 1987, Epica has become a prestigious awards competition in the field of advertising, design and marketing. The judges are selected from more than 200 international publications and online outlets, including Forbes, Business Insider, Adweek, PRWeek, AdIndex, The Drum, The Globe and Mail, and others.

RT’s deepfake video, released ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, won gold in the Funniest Promo: Over 60 Seconds category and silver in the News: Election Coverage Promo/Campaign category. During the presidential race, RT published a promo video imagining what Donald Trump’s job at the Russian news network might look like in the event of him losing the election.

They’re Crazy About Us promo received a bronze prize at the Promax Global Awards this year. It presents a humorous vision of what leading politicians of the world might be discussing with their psychotherapists at a time when Russia's RT is getting ready to celebrate its 15th anniversary on air. The prominent figures confiding secrets to their therapists are Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.

RT’s promo for 2020 US presidential election coverage won bronze in the News: Best Program Open/Titles category.

RT’s large-scale #VictoryPages project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War/Second World War scooped gold in the Best Organic Use Of Social Media To Promote A Program category and silver in the Best Social Media Content Series category. #VictoryPages tells the story of the Great Patriotic War through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube.

The Endless Letter, RT’s social media project, created in collaboration with students from the Moscow RANEPA Design School, as well as renowned artists Peter Bankov and Mikhail Sorkin, was awarded gold in the Best Social Media Content Series category and silver in the Best Organic Use Of Social Media To Promote A Program category. The Endless Letter is a unique graphic series featuring missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them.

The War: Kids’ drawings in VR animation video series scored a victory in the Best Technical Innovations: Digital Platforms category. This project revives wartime children’s drawings through virtual reality, created by top VR artists.

Promax is a global association that established a number of the most prestigious awards in TV promotion, marketing and design.

RT’s large-scale #VictoryPages won Silver in the Social – Experimental & Innovation category and Bronze in the Social – Education & Discovery Series category. #VictoryPages tells the story of the Great Patriotic War/World War II through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube.

RT’s deepfake video, released ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, was awarded Bronze in the Video – Experimental & Weird category. During the presidential race, RT published a promo video imagining what Donald Trump’s job at the Russian news network might look like in the event of him losing the election.

The Redfish media platform, which is part of RT’s Ruptly multimedia agency, won two Silver awards, one Bronze, and two People’s Lovie Awards.

The Lovie Awards is one of the most prestigious European ceremonies honoring online excellence. Its Gold, Silver and Bronze winners are chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the online public vote to decide which of the projects in each category should receive a People’s Lovie Award.

They’re Crazy about Us  promo will be competing in the Best Brand Image Promo: Over 60 Seconds and Best Stunt Promotion of the Promax Global Awards. It presents a humorous vision of what leading politicians of the world might be discussing with their psychotherapists at a time when Russia's RT is getting ready to celebrate its 15th anniversary on air. The prominent figures confiding secrets to their therapists are Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel. 

RT’s another deepfake video, released ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, is a finalist in the News: Election Coverage Promo/Campaign, Funniest Promo: Over 60 Seconds and News/Special Report: Best Program Promo categories. During the 2020 US presidential race, RT published a video imagining what Donald Trump’s job at the Russian news network might look like in the event of him losing the election. 

RT’s promo for 2020 US presidential election coverage made it to the finals in the News: Best Program Open/Titles category, while a promo video for the 11th anniversary of RT Spanish is a finalist in the Current Affairs: Best Program Promo category. 

RT’s large-scale #VictoryPages project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War/Second World War is going to compete in the Best Organic Use Of Social Media To Promote A Program Or Series and Best Social Media Content Series categories. #VictoryPages tells the story of the Great Patriotic War through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. 

The Endless Letter, RT’s social media project, created in collaboration with students from the Moscow RANEPA Design School, as well as renowned artists Peter Bankov and Mikhail Sorkin, is in the finals of the Promax Global Excellence Awards, competing in the Best Talent Integration Using Social Media; Best Social Media Content Series; and Best Organic Use Of Social Media To Promote A Program Or Series categories. The Endless Letter is a unique graphic series featuring missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them. Endless Letter: Web Experience is a finalist in the Best Technical Innovations: Digital Platforms category. 

War: Kids’ drawings in VR animation has scored a nomination in the Best Technical Innovations: Digital category. This project revives wartime children’s drawings through virtual reality, created by top VR artists. 

Four projects of RT America are also among the Promax Global Excellence Awards finalists in various categories. 

The winners of the Promax Global Excellence Awards 2021 will be announced on November 18 during an online ceremony.

Promax is a global association that established a number of the most prestigious awards in TV promotion, marketing and design.

RT’s promo made in the run-up to the 2020 US presidential election won gold in the ‘Special Visual Effects: Promotion/Open & IDs’ category and silver in the ‘News Promotion’ category. During the 2020 US presidential race, RT published a video imagining what Donald Trump’s job at the Russian news network might look like in the event of him losing the election. The video was made using deepfake technology.

RT’s video recreating the moment captured in the legendary 1945 wartime photograph ‘Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag’ won first prize in the ‘Promotion/Open & IDs: Documentary/Information Program Promotion’ category.

RT’s VR film ‘Lessons of Auschwitz’, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Nazi concentration camp by Soviet troops, won gold in the ‘Video Art & Experimental Film’, ‘Production Design/Art Direction’, and ‘Innovation’ categories.

The ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ series won gold in ‘Animation’ and bronze in ‘Use of Technology’.

The ‘#VictoryAlphabet: from Brest to Reichstag’ YouTube documentary series received bronze in the ‘Films: Feature Documentaries’ and ‘Documentary: History & Society’ categories.

In June 2021, RT’s interactive project titled ‘Endless Letter’ won bronze at the New York Festivals Advertising Awards. A year before that, #Romanovs100 interactive AR book took home a New York Festivals gold prize. Over the years, multiple RT projects have received New York Festivals awards: #1917LIVE, special reports from Libya, a talk show hosted by Julian Assange, and various RT documentaries.

Endless Letter: Web Experience took gold in the Digital Design: Microsite category, while Endless Letter itself won silver in Social: Innovative Use of Social Media. The project, created in collaboration with RANEPA School of Art and Design students and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Peter Bankov, features missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them. 

Another RT project, #VictoryPages, also took silver in the Social: Innovative Use of Social Media category. #VictoryPages tells the story of the Great Patriotic War/Second World War through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube. 

War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation snatched silver in the Brand Content: Brand VR/AR and Digital Craft: Use of Animation categories. The project features wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists. 

RT’s entries dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War/Second World War also won six bronze Cresta awards. 

RT Creative Lab, which produces large-scale educational and historical digital projects, was recognized by Cresta Awards as one of the 50 top creative companies in the world in 2020. 

#VictoryPages, which includes Endless Letter, War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation and other projects, has already been recognized with 130 Russian and international awards, including The Webby Awards, Promax Europe Awards, D&AD (Design and Art Direction), ADC Awards, The Shorty Awards, The Lovie Awards, Red Dot, Digiday and others. In addition, RT's creative projects have reached the finals of the prestigious and respected News and Documentary Emmy Awards and Cannes Lions 2021. 

Cresta Awards was established in 1993. The jury is comprised of more than 120 international design and marketing experts.

RUPTLY video agency is competing with the likes of AFP and EFE in the News Agency of the Year category. RUPTLY has more than 1,700 media clients from over 100 countries. In 2019, the video agency was the only outlet to film the arrest of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange near the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The footage was displayed by all major global media, including BBC, CNN, The Telegraph, and The Guardian.

In 2021, RUPTLY won a Shorty Award in the Live Event Coverage category for its live reports from Beirut after the massive blasts of 2020. In 2019, the video agency scooped a gold medal in the Shorty’s Best Live News Coverage category for its work during the yellow vests protests in France. RUPTLY is also the recipient of prestigious prizes awarded for excellence in online journalism – The Drum Online Media Awards and Digiday. It has also won gold at Germany’s Stevie Awards – a business competition.

RUPTLY’s YouTube page has more subscribers than AP, AFP, and Reuters.

RTDoc’s Lady Cops in Afghanistan was nominated in the International Affairs Documentary category. RT will compete against BBC News Arabic Documentaries, and against projects for Al Jazeera English, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. In May 2021, Lady Cops of Afghanistan became a finalist at the Human Rights Press Awards which recognize outstanding human rights reporting from Asia. RT's 2020 documentary tells the story of Afghan women pursuing a career with the police force.

In 2015, legendary TV journalist Larry King, who hosted Larry King Now and Politicking on RT America, was presented with the inaugural AIB Lifetime Achievement Award.

This is the seventeenth year of the AIBs. The winners will be announced in November.

The Association for International Broadcasting is the trade association for TV, radio, and online broadcasting, established in 1993. Its membership boasts leading international television and radio broadcasters, and major professional associations, with a total of more than 25,000 media organizations as members.

RT's large-scale #VictoryPages project, deployed across five social media platforms – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube – won the top ‘Best of the Best’ award in the ‘Digital Solutions / Education & E-Learning’ category and secured the ‘Winner 2021’ status in the ‘Online/Social Media’ category.

The video series ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ was recognized as ‘Best of the Best’ in the ‘Interface & User Experience Design/Virtual & Augmented Reality’ category. The project features wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists.

The ‘Endless Letter’ Instagram project, created in collaboration with RANEPA School of Art and Design students and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Peter Bankov, received the status of ‘Winner 2021’ in the ‘Illustrations’ category. The Endless Letter is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them.

“Winning such a prestigious award in the E-Learning category is a major success for us. After all, it was our goal to make an educational project about the legacy of the Great Patriotic War through the prism of digital art and in the language of social media. We attracted young people to the project to show how history can come alive in the minds and through the creativity of new generations,” said Kirill Karnovich-Valua, the author of the idea and the creative director of the #VictoryPages project.

“As an award winner, you have proved that you think outside the box. You know how to react with agility in times of crisis and utilise upheaval as an impetus for new design approaches,” said Peter Zec, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award.

The Red Dot Award was established in 1955, with leading global brands competing for it every year. In 2020, RT's creative projects won seven Red Dot awards, including the ‘Best of the Best’ status in two categories for the VR film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, which features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. In 2019, this prestigious award went to RT’s augmented-reality album for the #Romanovs100 social media project.

The #VictoryPages project has already been recognized with 130 Russian and international awards, including The Webby Awards, Promax, D&AD (Design and Art Direction), ADC Awards, The Shorty Awards, The Lovie Awards, Red Dot, Digiday, and others. In addition, RT's creative projects have reached the finals of the prestigious and respected News and Documentary Emmy Awards and Cannes Lions 2021.

RT correspondent Igor Zhdanov and his crew arrived in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, as it came under heavy artillery fire. He also spoke to refugees and the mothers of soldiers fighting on both sides of the conflict. 

Competing for the final prize in the News category, RT will face off against Sky News, Al Jazeera English and Brazil’s Globo. The winners of the International Emmy Awards will be announced on September 28. 

RT has seven nominations for the International News & Current Affairs Emmy – for reportage on the crash-landing of the Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, and its aftermath (2020), the coverage of a massive fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (2019), the humanitarian crisis in Mosul, Iraq (2018), the 70th session of the UN General Assembly (2016), Guantanamo Bay inmates’ hunger strike (2014), the Occupy Wall Street protests (2012), and US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow (2010). 

In July 2021, RT’s VR project ‘Lessons of Auschwitz’ commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous extermination camp by the Soviet Army was nominated for News and Documentary Emmy Awards. 

Additionally, RT America’s ‘Boom Bust’ financial show became a Daytime Emmy finalist for Outstanding Main Title and Graphic Design for a Live Action Program in 2020. Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning host of ‘On Contact with Chris Hedges’, secured RT America its first Daytime Emmy nomination in 2017, as an Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards are granted in the following categories:

- Best Written Journalism From A Conflict Zone;

- Best Video Journalism From A Conflict Zone;

- Best Humanitarian Journalism: After the War — a new category being introduced in 2021. It will highlight both video and written reporting on post-conflict recovery, ranging from individual human stories to efforts of entire communities.

The winners, to be announced on November 30, will each get a monetary prize of 200,000 rubles, or its foreign-currency equivalent, which, at today’s rates, is approximately $2,700, or €2,300.

Find out more and submit your entry at https://award.rt.com/. The winners will be announced on November 30, 2021.

The first recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards in the inaugural year of the competition in 2018 were from Iraq, Ireland and Singapore. Judging was conducted by an international jury of news media professionals and experts on the subject of war and armed conflicts, including former CBS correspondent Philip Ittner and the Association for International Broadcasting’s Tom Wragg.

2019 saw entries from 25 countries. Journalists from Russia, the United States, Italy, and India took top honors for their reports about conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In 2020, the competition awards were claimed by reporters from Russia, Syria and India.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were established by RT in memory of 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb who was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously honored Khaled Alkhateb with the Medal for Courage.

Lessons of Auschwitz has been shortlisted for the ‘Outstanding Interactive Media: Documentary’ category. The project is part of #VictoryPages, RT’s large-scale social media project that tells the story of the Great Patriotic War/Second World War through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube. #VictoryPages has already won international recognition at the Webby Awards, Promax Europe Awards, D&AD (Design and Art Direction), ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot, and Digiday Awards, among others. RT’s multimedia projects were also shortlisted at Cannes Lions five times in 2021.

RT has seven nominations for the International News & Current Affairs Emmy – for reportage on the crash-landing of the Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, and its aftermath (2020), the coverage of a massive fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (2019), the humanitarian crisis in Mosul, Iraq (2018), the 70th session of the UN General Assembly (2016), Guantanamo Bay inmates’ hunger strike (2014), the Occupy Wall Street protests (2012), and US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow (2010).

Additionally, RT America’s ‘Boom Bust’ financial show became a Daytime Emmy finalist for Outstanding Main Title and Graphic Design for a Live Action Program in 2020. Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning host of ‘On Contact with Chris Hedges’, secured RT America its first Daytime Emmy nomination in 2017, as an Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host.

The Emmy Awards is one of the most prestigious television awards competitions in the world. This year’s winner of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be announced September 28-29.

'I Don’t Understand' will see Shatner seeking to answer fascinating and timely questions that pique the natural interest of everyone, but that the establishment media all too often hesitates to tackle. 

From “should I worry about space debris falling from the sky?” to “are we alone in the universe?” to “what is dark matter?” to “what was before the Big Bang?” each episode will bring the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor face to face with some of today’s most perplexing conundrums. 

Speaking of his hopes for the show, Shatner expressed the universal, quintessentially human sense of curiosity that informs the show’s ethos. 

“I have often pondered the questions we should be asking, but perhaps aren’t. Just how much stuff is in space?  When I really think about it, I realize that I don’t understand anything. So, I’m going to ask questions no one else is on TV, and we’ll see if we can take a journey to enlightenment together,” he said. 

Executive producer of the show and the head of the company Mikhail Solodovnikov said, “We are very proud to bring the inimitable talent of William Shatner to our network and digital platform Portable.TV. It is a show for the curious intellectual who would rather be educated than entertained by a TV show." 

Host of 'I Don’t Understand' William Shatner’s many stellar accomplishments include playing the iconic role of Captain James T. Kirk on the original 'Star Trek' television series, earning multiple Golden Globes and Emmys as well as the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and authoring numerous books, including New York Times bestsellers 'The Ashes of Eden' and 'The Return'. His memoir of recollections about 'Star Trek' co-star Leonard Nimoy, 'Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man', was awarded the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best History & Biography. 

Digital platform Portable.TV is available on Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku, LG Smart TV, Jio TV and Samsung Tizen. 

The first episode of 'I Don’t Understand' will air on RT America on July 12, 2021. 

About RT America 

Dedicated to the top US stories and the country’s most pressing issues, RT America is the proud home of prime-time blockbuster 'News with Rick Sanchez', daily magazine 'News.Views.Hughes' with Scottie Nell Hughes, nightly talk show Dennis Miller Plus one with SNL alumni Dennis Miller, award-winning financial show 'Boom Bust', the Emmy-nominated 'On Contact' with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, 'America’s Lawyer' with hall-of-fame lawyer Mike Papantonio, 'World According to Jesse' with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, 'The Big Picture' with Holland Cooke, satirical late-night show 'Redacted Tonight' with comedian Lee Camp, media-critique magazine 'Eat The Press', daytime shows 'In Question', 'Just Press Play' and 'Sports HQ'.

“For the last ten years we've been making documentaries that have highlighted crucial global challenges and compelling personal stories. While the channel’s content originally focused on Russia, it has grown to explore the entire planet, taking our crews to the farthest corners of the Earth. RTDoc teams are willing to take the risk to cover stories that matter,” says head of RTDoc Ekaterina Yakovleva. 

RTDoc’s work has also been a force for positive social change. For example, films that focused on women's and children’s rights in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan (She is My Son: Afghanistan's Bacha Posh, When Girls Become Boys and Brides by Force. Marriage by kidnapping pushes Kyrgyz women to suicide) sparked public debate about the issues they addressed.

Over its years of broadcasting, RTDoc has won dozens of international awards. In 2021, its documentary titled Dying Alone: Kodokushi, Japan's epidemic of isolation through the eyes of a 'lonely death' cleaner received gold at the New York Festivals awards. The film tells of modern Japan and its epidemic of isolation, where thousands of elderly people die in their homes without anyone knowing. A number of RTDoc's films have also previously received the New York Festivals’ top awards: Growing up with War: Children of Syria. The tragedy of kids who have never known peace, H2WOE India's Water Crisis: A Warning To The World, and Blood & Honor: Chechen Vendetta Code, which details an ancient custom still alive in modern-day Caucasus. In 2019, RTDoc film My Forever Family. Why special needs children need really special families, which talks about a Russian charity called 'Road of Life', was Highly Commended in the finals of the AIB Awards.  

RT Documentary is available on satellite and cable TV networks in Russia and abroad. RTDoc films are also available at doc.rt.com. 

The Endless Letter project, created in collaboration with students from the RANEPA School of Art and Design and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Pyotr Bankov, has been shortlisted for the ‘Use of Branded Content created for Digital or Social’ category. The Endless Letter is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations inspired by them. RT’s VR project Lessons of Auschwitz, commemorating the 75th anniversary since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by the Soviet army, is also among the finalists in this category. 

RT’s projects will compete against entries by prominent international brands such as Netflix&PlayStation, Visa and Nike. 

Lessons of Auschwitz was also shortlisted in the Music/Sound Design category and RT’s documentary project #VictoryPages is a finalist in the Cross-channel Storytelling category.

The Endless Letter and Lessons of Auschwitz are part of #VictoryPages, RT’s large-scale social media project that tells the story of the Great Patriotic War/Second World War through new media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube. #VictoryPages has already won international recognition at the Webby Awards, Promax Europe Awards, D&AD (Design and Art Direction), ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot, and Digiday Awards, among others.  

#Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created by RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project, made it to the finals in the Photography/Brand & communication design category.

RT’s multimedia projects have been shortlisted at Cannes Lions four times. In 2019, it was #Romanovs100, a project dedicated to the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family. A year prior, RT’s Twitter project #1917LIVE, which told the story of the Russian Revolution, made it to the finals in three categories. 

Founded in 1954, The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for professionals in creative communications and advertising. The competition’s juries are drawn from among the top experts around the globe in each industry field.

As announced in January 2021, RT is set to expand its multi-language TV news coverage, and start broadcasting in German this December. In compliance with the Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council from 10 March 2010, RT filed an application with the Luxembourg authorities on June 15 to obtain a broadcast license. The TV signal will be transmitted from Moscow via a satellite under the temporary name RT auf Deutsch.

RT's sister company that operates in Germany, RT DE Productions GmbH, plans to subsequently send news reports, talk-shows and exclusive interviews to Moscow directly from Berlin.

For more information, go to https://de.rt.com/

Dennis Miller, American actor, comedian, five-time Emmy award winner and RT America talk show host, is nominated for the ‘Best Host in the Craft: Program’ category, while his show Dennis Miller +One will be competing for gold in the ‘Entertainment Special: Talk/Interview Special’ category.  

RT America’s issue of ‘News.Views.Hughes’, dedicated to the State of the Union Address hosted by Fox News veteran Scottie Nell Hughes, is in the finals in the category ‘News: Program: Best News Analysis/Commentary’. 

Other works shortlisted are a deepfake video of Donald Trump coming to work at RT, timed for the 2020 US presidential election, and the ‘Green Menace’ video, which instructed viewers on ways to keep themselves ‘safe’ from RT’s influence. This latter, black-and-white promo was shot using 16mm film and was inspired by old US instructional films that taught American citizens about civil defense during the Cold War; it was made to celebrate 15 years of RT’s international broadcasting and the network’s success over that time. 

‘Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag’, RT’s commemorative film that brings to life the iconic wartime image, has reached the finals in the category ‘Promotion/Open & IDs: Documentary/Information Program Promotion’.

The channel’s YouTube series ‘#VictoryAlphabet: from Brest to Reichstag’ is in the festival’s finals in two categories: ‘Films: Feature Documentaries’ and ‘Documentary: History & Society’. RT’s VR film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, is now a finalist across five categories, while the ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ project is in the finals in two categories. 

‘RT reports: Brumadinho: pain, mourning and desperation’ has been shortlisted in the ‘Documentary: Social Justice’ category. A special report by RT Spanish investigates the causes and covers the consequences of Brazil’s 2019 deadly dam disaster. Among RT’s highlighted documentary works are ‘Square Metre of Hell’, ‘The German Paedo-files’ and ‘The Art of Isolation’.  

A newscast promo, graphic design for RT America show In Question, and a video dedicated to the celebration of Vladimir Lenin’s 150th birthday are nominated across various categories as well.  

RT has been the recipient of dozens of New York Festivals Awards throughout the years. RT’s docs and groundbreaking AR (Augmented Reality) book for the channel’s multi-platform social media project #Romanovs100 were among the winners in 2020, whereas the project #Romanovs100 itself scooped a win in 2019. In 2018, RT’s project #1917LIVE, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the revolution in Russia, and an RT documentary about the life of children in war-torn Syria, took top prize. In 2017, a series of special reports by RT about war-torn Libya and the documentary film ‘H2WOE’ about the water shortage crisis in India both took gold. Previously, Julian Assange’s program on RT also took home gold, and the documentary film ‘Blood and Honor’ scooped the first prize. 

RT’s video using deepfake technology, They’re Crazy about Us, was declared a winner in the Best Use of Technology category. It presents a humorous vision of what leading politicians of the world might be discussing with their psychotherapists at a time when Russia's RT is getting ready to celebrate its 15th anniversary on air. The prominent figures confiding secrets to their therapists are Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.

Another deepfake video, this one timed for the 2020 US presidential election, won silver in the Long-form Promotional Content category. This promo playfully speculates about what Donald Trump's job at the world-famous Russian news network might look like in the event he lost the election.

The Green Menace video, which instructed viewers on ways to keep themselves “safe” from RT’s influence, claimed silver in the Special Event Spot category. This short black-and-white clip was shot using 16mm film and was inspired by old US instructional films that taught American citizens about civil defense during the Cold War; it was made to celebrate 15 years of RT’s international broadcasting and the network’s success over that time.

Gold and silver in the Social Media Campaign For A Channel category were claimed by RT’s projects dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and Second World War, #VictoryPages and ‘The Endless Letter’, respectively. Also, ‘The Endless Letter’, presenting a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the war and accompanying illustrations produced by professional graphic artists and students of arts, won silver in the Best Use Of Social Media For A Channel Or Brand category.

RT's project ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ received silver in the Best Use of Technology category. The project presents a series of wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists.

‘The Endless Letter’ and ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ projects are part of RT’s large-scale social media campaign #VictoryPages, which tells the story of the Great Patriotic War and World War II across five major new media and digital art platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. It has already won recognition at the D&AD Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot, Digiday, The Drum Awards for Online Media, ADC Awards, and in other international competitions.

Promax Europe Awards is a leading international awards event that seeks to honor achievements in the areas of promotion, marketing and design. RT’s creative projects have been distinguished with multiple Promax awards over the years. Among them are: a 2018 FIFA World Cup promo featuring celebrated football coach José Mourinho and prominent Russian athletes and ballet dancers; promos for cross-platform historical project #Romanovs100, the channel’s Never Giving Up promo featuring members of the Russian Paralympic team, RT’s 10th anniversary promos, and the network’s promo for the 70th anniversary Victory Day celebration.

RT’s ‘Endless Letter’ project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War or Second World War, won the D&AD Wood Pencil, the equivalent of a bronze award, in the Writing for Design/Storytelling category. The project, created in collaboration with RANEPA School of Art and Design students and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Pyotr Bankov, is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, and illustrations inspired by them.

‘The Endless Letter’ is part of RT’s large-scale social media campaign, #VictoryPages, which tells the story of the Great Patriotic War and World War II across five major new media and digital art platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. It has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions. #VictoryPages has already been recognized at the Drum Awards for Online Media, ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Webby Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot, Digiday and others.

RT’s multimedia projects have been shortlisted four times for the finals of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, another prestigious competition in design and advertising.

D&AD, established in 1962 by a group of London-based designers and art directors (the British Design and Art Direction), celebrates creative excellence in design and advertising. The D&AD jury includes more than 40 industry professionals representing the creative, design and advertising communities worldwide.

Two documentaries produced as part of RT’s ‘.doc’ project shared gold in the category Online-Series-Documentary: one followed Lida Moniava, founder of the Lighthouse Charity Foundation for critically ill children, for a day, and the other presented the story of a Russian para-athlete, Dmitry Ignatov. In this category, RT’s competitors were projects by Al Jazeera and the New Yorker, among others.

RT’s educational animated series ‘Magic Garden’, which tells the story of children who explore nature playing in the garden, took home gold in the Online-Series-Animation category. Another series, 'A–Z', bagged gold in the category Online-General-Children.

Two episodes of RT’s ‘An Epidemic’, a series of documentaries by Russian activist journalist Anton Krasovsky, claimed the bronze award in the Television-Series-Documentary category.

RT Arabic won bronze in the Online-General-Cultural category with ‘Art of Life: The Grand Kremlin Palace’, and another bronze in Online-Craft-Use of 3D Animation category with an episode of ‘The Kalashnikova Show: Russia’s Military Secrets with Anna Knishenko’ about the history and traditions of the Russian Navy.

RT already has a number of prizes from previous Telly Awards. In 2020, its winning entries were a film from the ’An Epidemic’ series, about the spike of HIV cases in the USSR; ‘Lessons of Auschwitz’, a VR project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Soviet troops liberating the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp; and two programs by RT Arabic. An RTD documentary about the president of the Philippines, and RT America’s political comedy show ‘Redacted Tonight’ won gold in 2017. A year earlier, RT America’s news reports covering Hurricane Katrina and the Ferguson riots also took prizes.

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. The competition’s panel of judges comprises distinguished professionals of the film and television industry.

‘News with Rick Sanchez’ made it to the finals in the News Coverage category for its reporting about the protests in Armenia after it signed a truce agreement with Azerbaijan. RT is competing against Al Jazeera English, France Televisions and others in the same category.

“News is too important to pre-produce or cut corners, which is why as one of the few outlets based in the US that covers global news around the clock; we never shut down our studios – not even for a single day during the pandemic! And that allowed us to go live with breaking news containing actual video and context, as we did on November 10 when angry protesters stormed the Armenian parliament,” said Rick Sanchez.

RT has claimed victory at Monte-Carlo Television Festival before, beating CNN, Al Jazeera, and Sky News. In 2013, the network won the top prize for its coverage of the Chelyabinsk meteor; and in 2014, RT made the finals with its report from Ukraine during the Unity Day protests that took place on January 22. In 2015, it was again in the Monte-Carlo Television Festival finals with a news program about the Victory Day shooting in Mariupol when many civilians were killed and wounded. RT’s State Duma election coverage was named as a finalist in 2017. And in 2018, the channel was nominated for its reporting about the humanitarian crisis in Mosul. RT’s coverage of the Yellow Vest movement in France was selected as a finalist for the Golden Nymph in 2019.

The Monte Carlo Television Festival was established in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco and since then has become the world’s largest forum for TV films, shows, news reports, and news programing. The festival’s top prize is a gold copy of the ‘Salmacis’ Nymph statuette, commonly known as the Golden Nymph. The original statue is preserved in the Louvre Museum. 

“The Webby Awards is considered the most prestigious digital competition in the world – and deservedly so. To receive the top prize from the Academy is a major success. We are proud of the achievement that we share with our artists, colleagues, and partners. Congratulations to everyone who worked on the project and supported us,” said Kirill Karnovich-Valua, creative director at RT.

The Webby Awards top prize in the Social/Features: Best Use of Stories category went to RT’s Endless Letter Instagram project. Endless Letter, created in collaboration with RANEPA School of Art and Design students and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Pyotr Bankov, is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, and illustrations inspired by them.

The project is part of RT’s large-scale social media campaign, #VictoryPages, which tells the story of the Great Patriotic War and World War II across five major new media and digital art platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. It has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions.

RT has won People’s Voice recognitions at the Webby Awards before. In 2020, the virtual reality project Lessons of Auschwitz won in two categories. RT also topped the list of companies whose digital projects put Russia on the International Webby Winner Index 2020 for the first time ever. In 2018, the Academy recognized RT’s #1917LIVE project, an international, historical social media re-enactment dedicated to the Russian Revolution. A group of RT’s digital projects won in 2016.

The Webby Awards, “the internet’s highest honor,” according to the New York Times, annually honor the world’s best digital projects: websites, videos, mobile apps and social media campaigns. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) that judges the competition has top professionals from the web and media industry as its members. Over 13,000 entries from around the world were submitted this year.

The Endless Letter Instagram project, created in collaboration with RANEPA School of Art and Design students and professional graphic artists Mikhail Sorkin and Pyotr Bankov, was declared a winner in the following categories: Social Good Campaign, Best Use of Instagram, and Storytelling. It also won gold in the Best Use of Instagram Stories category. Endless Letter is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, and illustrations inspired by them.

The project ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ won in the Virtual Reality category, both by the jury’s and the users’ vote, and claimed silver in the Short Form Video category. The project presented a series of wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists.

A series of animated photos called ‘WW2 Stills in Motion’ was distinguished with a top award in the Images category.

All the above projects are part of RT’s large-scale social media campaign #VictoryPages, which tells the story of the Great Patriotic War and World War II across five major new media and digital art platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. It has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions.

RT’s Ruptly video news agency was proclaimed the winner in the Live Event Coverage category for its live broadcast from Beirut, Lebanon, where massive explosions took place in August 2020.

Redfish, a media platform that is part of Ruptly, won in the Best Use of Instagram Video category. Its team conducts its own investigations and produces short documentaries focusing on social and economic issues.

‘Lady Cops in Afghanistan’ by RT’s RTDoc documentary channel has won in the Documentary Video category in the English language. 

“When we learnt about female cops in Afghanistan, we just couldn’t believe it. It’s a country torn by relentless war. Besides, the Afghan conservative society does not approve of women joining law enforcement or the military, as this is against local tradition. Afghan policewomen are not only marginalized by their families, they also live in fear of being attacked by militants,” Ekaterina Yakovleva, the head of RTDoc, commented. 

“I’m happy to serve my homeland, but at the same time I’m scared for my life, of course. We get threats, but we have to carry on. If men and women become too scared to join the police, who will ensure security in the country?” one of the film’s protagonists, police officer Fazila Azimi, says. 

2021 marks the 25th year of the Human Rights Press Awards. Among those invited to judge this year’s entries are current and former journalists of Reuters, the Financial Times, the New York Times, and Time Magazine. 

RTD’s films have a history of winning many Russian and international awards, including the prestigious New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, the OMNI Intermedia Awards, and the Russian national Strana award.

RT’s documentary project #VictoryPages is a finalist in the Social Content Series & Campaigns: Education & Discovery category. #VictoryPages tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube, and has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions.

The Endless Letter project, created in collaboration with students from the RANEPA School of Art and Design and professional graphic artists, has been nominated in three categories: Social Content Series & Campaigns: Culture & Lifestyle, Social Content Series & Campaigns: Education & Discovery, and Features: Best Use of Stories. Endless Letter, which is part of the #VictoryPages project, is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, and illustrations inspired by them.

Favela Lockdown: Brazil’s Gangs Fighting COVID-19, a film by Redfish media platform, made it to the finals in Documentary: Longform and General video: News & Politics categories. Redfish is part of RUPTLY, RT’s sister news agency. The Redfish team conducts its own investigations and produces short documentaries on socioeconomic issues.

RT projects selected for the finals will also compete for the Webby Awards People's Voice, where the winner is chosen based on users' voting results. The voting will continue on the Webby Awards website until May 6.

In April, RT’s VR project Lessons of Auschwitz won bronze at Clio Awards – one of the most prestigious competitions that honors excellence in advertising and film and TV promotion. Part of the #VictoryPages project, the film pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Nazi concentration camp by the Red Army.

RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and WWII, is a finalist in the Local Campaign and Education categories. #VictoryPages tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube, and has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions.

The Endless Letter Instagram project, created in collaboration with students from the RANEPA School of Art and Design and professional graphic artists, has been nominated in the following categories: Social Good Campaign, Art Direction, Best Use of Instagram, Best Use of Instagram Stories and Storytelling. Endless Letter is a combination of letters written from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations based on these letters.

‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ – a series of wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists – reached the finals in Virtual Reality, Short Form Video and Animations.

A series of animated photos called ‘WW2 Stills in Motion’, created as part of the #VictoryPages project, will be competing in the Images category.

RT’s RUPTLY video news agency became a finalist in the Live Event Coverage category with its live broadcast from Beirut, Lebanon, where a massive explosion took place in August 2020.

Redfish, a media platform that is part of RUPTLY, has been nominated in the Best Use of Instagram Video category. The Redfish team conducts its own investigations and produces short documentaries on socioeconomic issues.

Audiences can vote for the entries until March 31, using the Shorty Awards website – https://shortyawards.com/.

In 2020, RT received two top Webby Awards, and was a finalist in two more categories.

In May, RT’s virtual-reality (VR) film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Nazi concentration camp by the Red Army, won the People's Voice Award at the Webby Awards in two categories: News (Immersive And Mixed Reality) and Volumetric/6-Degrees of Freedom. ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’ was also a finalist in the Animation (Immersive and Mixed Reality) category.

Part of RT’s #VictoryPages project, the film was created in collaboration with VR artist Denis Semyonov, based on 3D drawings by students of Moscow's School №548. ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’ features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technology.

In April, 2020, #Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created as part of RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project, which was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, became a finalist in the Best Use of Augmented Reality category. Several thousand photos from the Romanovs’ own archive were published as part of the #Romanovs100 project. At this point, it’s the most complete photo archive of the imperial family. The AR book combined photographs from the early 20th century and augmented reality, giving the audience access to over 60 AR elements featured in the book via a mobile app.

The Webby Awards, “the internet’s highest honor,” according to the New York Times, annually honor the world’s best digital projects: websites, videos, mobile apps and social media campaigns. The jury includes more than 2,000 professionals within the web and media industries.

RT’s #VictoryPages project was the only gold winner out of the 50 submissions from Russia that made it to the finals. The Endless Letter Instagram project received gold in the Graphic Design category. Created in collaboration with students from the RANEPA School of Art and Design and professional graphic artists, the Endless Letter is a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, and illustrations inspired by them.

RT’s virtual-reality (VR) film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Nazi concentration camp by the Red Army, won the silver medal in the Media category, beating the Deutsche Welle project that was in line for the same award.

‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ – a series of wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists – received bronze in the virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) category.

RT’s #VictoryPages social media project tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube, and has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards and Digiday Awards, and in other international competitions.

Earlier, RT’s projects #1917LIVE, a large-scale historical re-enactment that marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution by recreating the events “in real time” on Twitter, and #Romanovs100, dedicated to the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, won four Epica Awards.

Founded in 1987, Epica has become a prestigious awards competition in the field of advertising, design and marketing. The judges are selected from more than 200 international publications and online outlets, including Forbes, Business Insider, Adweek, PRWeek, AdIndex, The Drum, The Globe and Mail, and others.

“Dear foreign intelligence services: sleep easy tonight. I promise that we're taking a day off from meddling, in honor of RT’s anniversary,” said RT’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

RT airs award-winning programming helmed by television legend Larry King, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, ex-Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa, former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and ex-UK MP George Galloway, the “most dangerous financial journalist” Max Keiser, former head of French External Intelligence Alain Juillet, and many other internationally acclaimed personalities. The network counts ex-minister of foreign affairs of Austria Karin Kneissl and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek among its regular online contributors.

According to the international research company Ipsos, 100 million people across 47 countries watch RT on TV every week. RT was the world’s first TV news network to reach 10 billion views on YouTube, beating the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Euronews, and FOX News to the milestone.

RT is celebrating the impact of its work over the last 15 years with a ‘Green Menace’ anniversary campaign, referencing RT’s bright green logo. The feature reel was modeled on the instructional films mass-produced in the US during the Cold War era, and provides instructions on how to protect oneself from the RT waves.

RT has also released leaked secret footage* of how world leaders – Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson – really feel about RT in their most private moments.

* Warning: deepfake

Following its English-language debut in 2005, RT launched a round-the-clock Arabic channel in 2007 and a Spanish-language service in 2009. In 2010, RT opened its first satellite studio, in Washington, DC, and launched a separate channel, RT America, to focus on US issues. RT UK began broadcasting from London in 2014 and RT France, from Paris, in 2017. Today the RT network also includes documentary channel RTDoc in English and Russian, a digital platform RT DE in German, and a multimedia sister news agency Ruptly, based in Berlin. The original, flagship English-language channel is now known as RT International and broadcasts 24/7 to more than 100 countries around the world.

RT is the winner of the Monte Carlo TV Festival Awards for best 24-hour newscast, and a nine-time Emmys finalist. The network has been nominated for the International News & Current Affairs Emmy for its reportage on the crash-landing of the Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (2020), the breaking news of a massive fire in the Russian city of Kemerovo (2019), the coverage of the humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi city of Mosul (2018), the 70th session of the UN General Assembly (2016), Guantanamo Bay inmates’ hunger strike (2014), the Occupy Wall Street protests (2012) and US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow (2010). RT America’s Boom Bust financial show was a Daytime Emmy finalist for Outstanding Main Title and Graphic Design for a Live Action Program in 2020, while Pulitzer-prize laureate Chris Hedges, host of On Contact with Chris Hedges, secured RT America its first Daytime Emmy nomination in 2017, as Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host. Over the years, the network has collected hundreds of international news, media, television and creative awards.

*** 

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton: “We are in an information war and we are losing that war… the Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it is quite instructive.” 

Serbian film director Emir Kusturica: “The Russian RT channel is the best example of what television should look like, [and is a far cry from] BBC and CNN, which broadcast one-sided information.” 

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters: “I'm happy to say I get lots of my news from RT.” 

American film director Oliver Stone: “I only get my news from Russia’s RT. I trust it more than I do the North American media, which is nothing but propaganda.” 

Ex-president of Brazil Lula di Silva: “The role that Russia Today is playing in the world of information is extremely important and of the essence to provide information as fully and with as much plurality possible to people all over the planet.”

RT’s social media projects Redfish and In The Now, as well as #VictoryPages, a large-scale digital documentary project, the channel’s tribute to the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, won 11 awards, including 6 top prizes.

RT’s VR film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, won in two categories: Education and Youth & Family. It also scored gold in the News & Media and Documentary Short categories. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technology. It was produced as part of RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages.

The Endless Letter Instagram project, created in collaboration with students from the RANEPA School of Art and Design and professional graphic artists, won first place in the News & Media, Storytelling and Media Partnership categories, and received silver in the Best Use of Instagram category. Endless Letter is a combination of letters written from the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War and illustrations based on these letters.

‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’, a series of wartime children’s drawings, reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists, was the winner of the Animations category.

Redfish, a media platform that is part of RT’s Ruptly video agency, received silver in Documentary Short, while In The Now, Maffick’s social media project, won gold in the UGC category.

RT’s #VictoryPages social media project tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube, and has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Lovie Awards, Digiday Awards and other international competitions.

RT’s video news agency RUPTLY is up against AFP for a win in the News Agency of the Year category. In 2019, RT’s video news agency RUPTLY was the only outlet to capture exclusive footage of Julian Assange’s arrest as the WikiLeaks founder was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy and taken by London police. RUPTLY’s was the only crew on site, effectively providing thousands of news outlets and media platforms around the world with the breaking news footage, including the BBC, CNN, The Telegraph and The Guardian. In 2020, RUPTLY broadcast live from Beirut after it was rocked by a massive explosion and reported from Black Lives Matter protests in the US. RUPTLY has more than 1,200 media clients from over 100 countries. 

Episodes of RT France’s L’Info avec Stéphanie de Muru (“The News with Stéphanie de Muru”) focusing on the public debate about COVID-19 treatments in France are on the shortlist for Continuing News Coverage, competing against CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera, among other entries.

RTД’s Freed to Be Wild is a finalist in the Natural World category. Other contenders include projects submitted by CNN and Al Jazeera. The documentary focuses on WWF Russia employees who work hard to save rare and endangered species living in the wild across Russia, such as the Amur tiger and leopard, the saker falcon and the white bear.

In 2015, legendary broadcast journalist Larry King, the host of Larry King Now and Politicking on RT America, was presented with the AIB Lifetime Achievement Award.

This is the sixteenth year of the AIBs. The awards ceremony will be held online on November 13.

The Association for International Broadcasting is the trade association for TV, radio, and online broadcasting, established in 1993. Its membership boasts leading international television and radio broadcasters, and major professional associations, with a total of more than 25,000 media organizations as members. Besides the headquarters in the UK, the AIB has regional offices in European countries, South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East.

RT’s VR film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, created in collaboration with VR-artist Denis Semionov and based on 3D art made by students of Moscow School No.548, features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technology, which is a requirement for being included in the official VIFF Immersed program. 

“We’ve decided to create the first-ever volumetric market this year. We had an impressive 100 submissions from all over the world and it was a really tough task to select just 16 works. Making it into the official selection of VIFF Immersed proves the quality and innovation behind each work,” said Rene Pinnell, member of the VIFF Immersed selection board, founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope.fund. 

‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’ is part of RT’s #VictoryPages social media project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The project tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK, and YouTube, and has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards, Digiday Awards and other international competitions.

Founded in 1958, the Vancouver International Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in North America. This year, the VIFF Immersed selection board was comprised of Intel and Microsoft representatives, as well as other experts.

“[‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’ is] an unprecedented video project that strengthened the commemorative link between generations. The project was a powerful social experiment, demonstrating that history can be told, retold and reimagined by younger storytellers,” the Digiday Media Awards Europe jury said in a statement. 

RT’s VR film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, which features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technology, is part of RT’s #VictoryPages social media project dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The film was created in collaboration with VR-artist Denis Semionov and based on 3D art made by students of Moscow School No.548. Together with the RT team, the high school students visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum located on the site of the Nazi concentration camp near Oświęcim, Poland, later pouring their impressions into volumetric images. The musical score is by Peter Theremin, great-grandson of Soviet inventor Leon Theremin — the creator of an electronic musical instrument called the theremin. 

RT’s large-scale digital documentary project #VictoryPages dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, tells its story across five platforms:Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. The project has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Red Dot Awards and in other international competitions. 

The Digiday Media Awards Europe, established by the online magazine ‘Digiday’, is an international competition honoring “the companies, campaigns and technology modernizing European media.”

The nominated series of reports concerned the deadly crash-landing of the Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, which left 41 dead. RT examined the timeline of the tragedy, from the moment the jet declared an emergency to the moment it went up in flames on the tarmac. RT journalists brought viewers the stories of survivors, of those who perished in the crash, and of the brave heroes who put their lives on the line to save others.

Earlier this year, RT America’s ‘Boom Bust’ financial show was a Daytime Emmy finalist for Outstanding Main Title and Graphic Design for a Live Action Program. With two nominations in 2020 under its belt, RT is now a nine-time Emmy finalist, with seven of those nominations coming from the International Emmy Awards for News & Current Affairs.

RT’s previous International News & Current Affairs Emmy nominations were for the coverage of a massive fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (2019), the humanitarian crisis in Iraq’s Mosul (2018), the 70th session of the UN General Assembly (2016), Guantanamo Bay inmates’ hunger strike (2014), the Occupy Wall Street protests (2012) and US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow (2010).

Additionally, Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning host of ‘On Contact with Chris Hedges’, secured RT America its first Daytime Emmy nomination in 2017, as an Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host.

The Emmy Awards is one of the most prestigious television awards competitions in the world. This year’s winner of the International Emmy for News will be announced during an online ceremony on September 21.

RT’s VR film ‘The Lessons of Auschwitz’, which features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies, scooped two Red Dot awards: Best of the Best in the Online – Special Projects and Interface & User Experience Design – 3D Computer Graphics categories. It also received two recognitions in the Film & Animations – Short Films and Illustrations categories.

The film, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, was created based on 3D drawings by Moscow secondary-school students, in collaboration with VR artist Denis Semionov.

The ‘Four Lines about War’ series, a ‘poster-poem’ by Russian artist Peter Bankov, who incorporated into the work poems and lyrics written during and after the Second World War, received the Red Dot awards in the Typography – Posters and Posters – Series categories. ‘May’, the unique font developed for RT’s #VictoryPages project, was recognized as a Red Dot Winner in the Typography – Typefaces category.

“The idea behind RT’s #VictoryPages project was to show a new approach to the legacy of the Great Patriotic War – through new media, digital art and interactive design. It’s a great honor that three elements of our project were awarded top marks from a distinguished panel of judges, the best creative industry professionals from all over the world,” said Kirill Karnovich-Valua, the project’s creative director.

RT’s large-scale digital documentary project #VictoryPages dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, tells its story across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. The project has already won recognition at the ADC Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards and in other international competitions.

The Red Dot Award was established in 1955, with leading global brands competing for it every year. In 2019, this prestigious award went to RT’s augmented-reality album for the #Romanovs100 social media project.

“The award recognizes the work of war correspondents who travel to conflict zones every year, armed only with a camera and a microphone. Not even the global coronavirus epidemic could interrupt their reporting this year. We thank everyone who submitted their entries and congratulate the winners,” said RT's deputy editor-in-chief Anna Belkina.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards 2020 is presented in three categories: Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Long Form; Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Short Form; and Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone. Entries were submitted by journalists from 16 countries, including the US, Norway, Egypt and others.

WINNERS:

1. Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Short Form.

— Mohamed Ali (Syria), ‘Idlib frontline calm as ceasefire goes into effect’.

The report covers the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib, where a ceasefire deal was brokered by Russia and Turkey.

2. Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Long Form.

— Alexander Konevich (Russia), ‘Russian military in Syria’.

A series of reports that tell about the efforts of the Russian Armed Forces, who not only assist the Syrian military, but also help the civilian population in Syria to overcome the consequences of the ongoing conflict.

3. Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone.

— Ruchi Kumar (India), ‘Why Iran is deporting scores of Afghan refugees’.

The report tells about the difficult conditions of Afghan refugees in Iran. Every year, Iran's authorities deport hundreds of thousands of people from their country.

Judging was conducted by an international jury of news media professionals and experts on the subject of war and armed conflicts. Among them is industry veteran Tom Wragg, who currently serves as a Director at the Association for International Broadcasters. Tom began his career at the BBC, eventually becoming Head of Production for BBC News and Current Affairs. Other high-profile jurors included Eva Golinger, a lawyer, journalist and writer specializing in the field of international law and foreign policy between Latin America and the US; RT war correspondent Murad Gazdiev who covered major armed conflicts of recent years and reported on the massive protests taking place around the world; Gian Micalessin, war correspondent for the Italian newspaper Il Giornale; Ahmed Gomaa, an expert on Arab countries and a correspondent for Egypt's Youm7 newspaper; and Konstantinos Antonopoulos, a journalist from Greece and a winner of multiple international awards.

RT has also welcomed one of Russia's most well-known journalists as a Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards 2020 juror. War correspondent Evgeny Poddubny is a three-time winner of the prestigious Russian TEFI award for his work on the frontlines around the world.

The Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards were launched in honor of 25-year-old journalist Khaled Alkhateb, who worked with RT’s Arabic-language channel. Khaled was killed by an ISIS shell in the eastern suburb of Homs, Syria on July 30, 2017, covering the ongoing fighting in his home country.

“Even the pandemic couldn’t stop war correspondents from doing their job across the world. Just last week, a freelancer working with RT’s RUPTLY multimedia agency was viciously killed in Yemen. We established the Khaled Alkhateb Memorial Awards to honour those who put their lives on the line to report the truth,” said RT’s deputy editor-in-chief Anna Belkina. 

The Khaled Alkhateb Memorial Awards is presented in three categories: Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Long Form; Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Short Form; and Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone. 

In 2019, the jury selected the best entries from 25 countries. Journalists from Russia, the US, Italy, and India took top honors for their reports about conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. Judging was conducted by an international jury of news media professionals and experts on the subject of war and armed conflicts. Among them is industry veteran Tom Wragg, who currently serves as the Business Development Director of the Association for International Broadcasters. Other high-profile jurors included Eva Golinger, a lawyer, journalist and writer specializing in the field of international law and foreign policy between Latin America and the US, RT International correspondent Maria Finoshina, and RT Arabic host Salam Musafir. 

The 2019 awards ceremony took place as part of the RT Media Talk - ‘Covering Conflict: Dimensions, Risks And Responsibilities Of Journalism In The Hot Zone’. Acclaimed journalists from all over the world discussed impartiality when covering international conflicts, debunking fake news from the frontlines, and other important issues facing today’s media. 

The winners of the third annual Khaled Alkhateb Memorial Awards will be announced on July 30, which marks the day on which 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously honored Khaled with the Medal for Courage. 

In early June 2020, Yemeni journalist Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, who was collaborating with RT’s multimedia agency RUPTLY and other media outlets, fell victim of a violent attack that ended his life. Al-Quaety helped cover the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen and the situation in the Middle East. January 2020 saw the tragic death of yet another RUPTLY stringer, Safaa Ghali, in Iraq.

Find out more and submit your entry at https://award.rt.com/.

RT Arabic show Fight, developed with two Russian athletes — a UFC mixed martial arts and a weightlifter — won silver in the General — Online category. The Kalashnikova series, whose episodes tell about the Rostov-on-Don submarine, the Nakhimov Naval School and the history of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, was awarded silver in the Series — Online nomination.

An episode of RT's An Epidemic — a series of documentaries by Russian activist journalist Anton Krasovsky — won bronze in the General — Branded Content category. The episode explores the spread of the HIV epidemic in Russia and the USSR, the ongoing stigma around the issue, and the fight against the scourge of HIV in Russia and abroad.

RT's VR film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, won bronze in the General — Immersive & Mixed Reality category. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. It was produced as part of RT's large-scale social media project #VictoryPages.

RT already has a number of prizes from previous Telly Awards. RTD documentary about the president of the Philippines and RT America’s political comedy show Redacted Tonight won gold in 2017. A year earlier, RT America’s news reports covering Hurricane Katrina and the Ferguson Riots also took the top prize.

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. The Judging Council of the competition is comprised of distinguished professionals of the film and television industry.

The ADC Annual Awards jury has given RT’s AR photo album of the #Romanovs100 multimedia project, created to mark 100 years since the murder of the last Russian monarch and his family, two bronze awards in the UX/UI Design and Use of Technology categories. The book also got merit awards in five other categories. #Romanovs100, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was offered across four platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Several thousand photos from the Romanovs’ own archive have been published as part of the #Romanovs100 project. At this point, it’s the most complete photo archive of the imperial family. 

The special adoptive font developed by RT for the #VictoryPages project, which is based on the handwriting of the Soviet soldiers who wrote their messages on the fallen Reichstag walls in Berlin 75 years ago, has won a special ADC Awards Merit in the Typograhy category. RT’s #VictoryPages large-scale digital project dedicated to the Soviet Victory in World War II was launched in early 2020 and played out on five social media platforms — Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Vkontakte, and YouTube. 

RT’s creative team has also launched the #1917LIVE project — one of the biggest-ever historical re-enactments on Twitter. Dozens of Twitter accounts were set up as key historical characters of the period, from the last Russian tsar Nicholas II and revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin to common workers and soldiers, tweeting events from 100 years ago in real-time. 

Between them, RT’s #VictoryPages, #Romanovs100 and #1917LIVE hold over 70 international awards, including the Drum, Clio Entertainment, Promax, Shorty, Webby, Red Dot, ADC, Epica and New York Festivals. RT’s projects are also four-time finalists of one of the most prestigious competitions in marketing and advertising, the Cannes Lions.

RT’s VR film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, won in two Immersive and Mixed Reality categories – Volumetric / 6-Degrees of Freedom and News.

The Lessons of Auschwitz was created based on 3D drawings by students of Moscow's School №548. Together with RT’s #VictoryPages team, high schoolers visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum complex located on the site of the concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland, as well as the Moscow Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, later pouring their impressions into 3D images. The music score is by Peter Theremin, great-grandson of Soviet inventor Leon Theremin – the creator of an electronic musical instrument called the theremin.

RT has previously taken home two People’s Voice Awards at the Webbys. In 2018, RT won for #1917LIVE, a “real-time” historical social media reenactment dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. In 2016, RT was chosen as the best in overall social media presence, as represented by a series of digital projects, including platforms on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Soundcloud, and Coub, as well as the RT Play Facebook portal, which offers a selection of infotainment videos with infographics elements.

The Webby Awards, “the internet’s highest honor,” according to the New York Times, annually honor the world’s best digital projects: websites, videos, mobile apps and social media campaigns. The jury includes more than 1,000 professionals within the web and media industries.

The Khaled Alkhateb Memorial Awards is presented in three categories: Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Long Form; Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Short Form; and Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone.

The inaugural year of the competition in 2018 saw entries from more than 20 countries in 10 different languages. The winners were journalists from Iraq and Ireland, whose reporting shed light on the situation in Iraq and Syria following the expulsion of ISIS, and a journalist from Singapore for her coverage of the seizure of Marawi, Philippines by ISIS terrorists. Judging was conducted by an international jury of news media professionals and experts on the subject of war and armed conflicts, including former CBS correspondent Philip Ittner and the Association for International Broadcasting’s Tom Wragg.

In 2019, the jury selected the best entries from 25 countries. Journalists from Russia, the US, Italy, and India took top honors for their reports about conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The 2019 awards ceremony took place as part of the RT Media Talk - ‘Covering Conflict: Dimensions, Risks And Responsibilities Of Journalism In The Hot Zone’. Acclaimed journalists from all over the world discussed impartiality when covering international conflicts, debunking fake news from the frontlines, and other important issues facing today’s media.

The winners of the third annual Khaled Alkhateb Memorial Awards will be announced on July 30, which marks the day on which 25-year-old RT Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb was killed by ISIS shelling in Homs, Syria, in 2017. Khaled had been covering the fighting between Syrian government forces and terrorists. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously honored Khaled with the Medal for Courage.

Find out more and submit your entry at https://award.rt.com/.

On May 9, RT will air the full version of the documentary series under the title #VictoryAlphabet: from Brest to Reichstag, which tracks the Red Army’s progress in 1945. The series is part of RT’s special project #VictoryPages that tells the story of WWII across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. 

RT will also broadcast the aerial display over the Red Square, as well as various shows and documentaries about WWII. RT Spanish will present a series of programs dedicated to citizens of Spain and South American countries who participated in WWII. RT Arabic will revisit some of the major battles and stories of the people who fought them. RT France will air a series of interviews with French war veterans and WWII historians. 

RT Deutsch will present its special project: an online meeting of a German MP and a Russian veteran who made it to Berlin in May 1945 but just missed the opportunity to scribble on the Reichstag wall, as many Soviet soldiers had. Now, a member of the German parliament has given the vet a chance to have the message of his choosing written on the wall of his office inside the parliament building. The conversation had taken place just a few days before the veteran passed away in May. 

For the last several months RT’s #VictoryMail has gathered the stories of WWII veterans from across the world. RT delivered the letters of gratitude from people living in Russia, Belarus, Germany, USA, China and many other countries to the vets in different corners of the globe. 

RT has produced a special project centered on the legendary wartime photograph “Raising a Flag over the Reichstag,” transforming the moment of victory into a commemorative film. RT carefully analyzed all available authentic photographs taken on the roof of the Reichstag by the author of the iconic shot, Yevgeny Khaldei, as well as more than 40 supporting photographs of the Reichstag, surrounding buildings, panoramas and architecture in order to recreate the exact moment when the picture was taken. 

On Twitter, RT’s team has been running a virtual reconstruction of the final months of WWII, which includes dozens of historical figures posting from dedicated accounts in ‘real time’ to share their thoughts and progress reports. 

On Instagram, RT’s Endless Letter series provided visuals to many of the authentic wartime letters from the frontlines. The images were created by young artists of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 

RT is a global, round-the-clock news network of eight TV channels, broadcasting news, current affairs, and documentaries, with digital platforms in six languages and the RUPTLY video news agency. According to a 2017 survey on TV news consumption by Ipsos, a leading audience research firm, RT has a total weekly audience of 100 million viewers in 47 of the 100+ countries where RT broadcasts are available. RT is the #1 TV news network on YouTube with more than ten billion views across its channels. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be a seven-time Emmy finalist.

RT’s VR film The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, has been nominated for this year’s Webby Awards in three categories — Immersive and Mixed Reality: Volumetric / 6-Degrees of Freedom, News, Animation. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. It has been produced as part of RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages.

#Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created as part of RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project that was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, is now competing for the Webby Awards in Immersive and Mixed Reality: Best Use of Augmented Reality category. Several thousand photos from the Romanovs’ own archive have been published as part of the #Romanovs100 project. At this point, it’s the most complete photo archive of the imperial family. The AR book combined photographs from the early 20th century and augmented reality, giving the audience access to over 60 AR elements featured in the book via a mobile app.

Live footage of the “Yellow Vest” protests in France filmed by RUPTLY, RT’s global multimedia news agency, has made it to the Webby Awards finals in the General Video: Events and Live streams category. An entry by In The Now social media project (Maffick) has been nominated in the Social Video: Education and Discovery category. The video tells the tragic story of a British vlogger whose life was claimed by cancer just a few days after his marriage.

RT’s entries will also compete for the annual People’s Voice Award. Winners of this award are determined by public voting which is open until Thursday, May 7th. Viewers can cast their vote on the Webby Awards official website.

Among the Webby Awards 2020 finalists in various categories are BBC, CNN, HBO, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, National Geographic and other major media outlets.

RT has previously taken home two People’s Voice Awards at the Webbys. In 2018, RT won for #1917LIVE, a “real-time” historical social media reenactment dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. In 2016, RT was chosen as the best in overall social media presence, as represented by a series of digital projects, including platforms on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Soundcloud, and Coub, as well as the RT Play Facebook portal, which offers a selection of infotainment videos with infographics elements.

The Webby Awards, “the internet’s highest honor,” according to the New York Times, annually honor the world’s best digital projects: websites, videos, mobile apps and social media campaigns. The jury includes more than 1,000 professionals within the web and media industries. This year’s winners will be announced on 19 May.

The jury named RT’s VR film, The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, the best project in three categories: Best Use of Facebook Video, Best Use of Virtual Reality, Best Use of Branded Content. Internet users favored RT’s VR film over others in four categories. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. It has been produced as part of RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages. 

#Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created as part of RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project that was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, has won the Shorty Awards in Best in Education, Most Creative Use of Technology, and Best in Books and News categories. The jury also gave RT gold and silver in another two categories: Best UX/UI and Best Use of Branded Content correspondingly. The AR album was named the winner by Internet users in three categories. #Romanovs100, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was offered across four platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Dyatlov Group’s Journal, Last Page, an interactive project launched by RT's RUPTLY multimedia news agency, became the winner in Best Multi-Platform Campaign and Best Use of Storytelling categories. RUPTLY's project bested, among others, entries by Sony Pictures Television, Nickelodeon, Universal Pictures and Vice Media. The agency's immersive project is based on the personal diaries and photos of the group of Russian hikers who perished in the Ural Mountains in 1959. 

Redfish, a media platform that is part of RUPTLY, took home gold in the category Best in Social Activism. The Redfish team reported on protest movements in France, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and elsewhere on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Ruptly’s social media project called Soapbox (Maffick) received the Shorty Audience Honor in Best in News & Media category. 

In 2019, the #Romanovs100 project and the RT360 app for immersive panoramic content won the top prizes at the Shorty Awards. Ruptly broadcasts from the 'yellow vest' protests in France won gold for Best Live News Coverage, beating Bloomberg Media.

RT’s #Romanovs100 Augmented Reality Photo Album won gold in the Production Design/Art Direction and Use of Technology categories. #Romanovs100 launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family was produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia and told its story across four social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Several thousand photos from the Romanovs’ own archive have been published as part of the project. It’s the most complete photographic archive of the imperial family that’s ever been compiled. 

RT’s Dying Alone documentary won gold in the Human Concerns category. It takes a look at modern Japan, where more and more elderly people are living completely alone, unaided by friends or family. 

An episode from RT’s series “An Epidemic,” with Russian activist and journalist Anton Krasovsky, took home a bronze medal in the Health/Medical Information category. It explores the spread of the HIV epidemic within Russia and USSR, the ongoing stigma around the issue, and the fight to reduce the scourge of the problem in Russia and elsewhere. 

RT’s Syrian Tango documentary also won bronze, while RT America’s promo #RealTalk took one silver and two bronze medals. The opening title sequence for Boom Bust won bronze for Best Animation category. 

The #Romanovs100 AR book had already been a finalist in eight categories of the New York Festivals Advertising Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in advertising and promotion. The special adoptive font developed by RT for the #VictoryPages project, which is based on the handwriting of the Soviet soldiers who wrote their messages on the fallen Reichstag walls in Berlin 75 years ago, made it to the final in two categories. 

RT has been a recipient of dozens of the New York Festivals Awards throughout the years, for its news, documentary and creative content. Last year, #Romanovs100 took gold in two categories. In 2018, RT’s project #1917LIVE, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the revolution in Russia, and an RT documentary about the life of children in war-torn Syria, took top prize. In 2017, a series of special reports by RT about war-torn Libya and the documentary film “H2WOE” about the water shortage crisis in India both took gold. Julian Assange’s program on RT also took home gold, and the documentary film ‘Blood and Honor’ beat CNN’s entry for first prize.

RT’s large-scale documentary project #VictoryPages dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory Day made it to the finals in the Best Designed Site and B2C Website of the Year categories. #VictoryPages tells the story of the Second World War through new kinds of media and digital art across five platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VKontakte and YouTube.

The augmented reality book for RT’s project #Romanovs100 that was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, is now competing in the finals of The Drum Online Media Awards in App of the Year and Best Use of Photography categories. The list of finalists also includes Sky News, Al Jazeera English and Bloomberg. Several thousand photos from the Romanovs’ own archive have been published as part of the #Romanovs100 project. At this point, it’s the most complete photo archive of the imperial family. The AR book combined photographs from the early 20th century and augmented reality, giving the audience access to over 60 AR elements featured in the book via a mobile app.

Redfish, an independent journalism project, that is part of RT’s video news agency RUPTLY, became a finalist in the Best Use of Social Media category. The Redfish team reported on protest movements in France, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and elsewhere on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

RT won recognition in The Drum Online Media Awards on several occasions. In 2019, the #Romanovs100 project, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, took the prize, while RUPTLY won in Commercial Team of the Year category in 2018 and in Best News B2B Site category the year before that.

To coincide with global celebrations marking 75 years since the capitulation of Nazi Germany, and the end of the Second World War in 1945, RT has created a commemorative video campaign developed by its multi-award winning creative department, to promote special programming surrounding Victory Day. 

RT’s team of VR experts brought to life the legendary scene surrounding the capture of the “Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag” image; reconstructing parts of the buildings’ 1945 rooftop and surrounding area. The original image, that became iconic both in the USSR. and abroad, was taken by a Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei whilst working for the TASS news agency. He did so between 1935 and 1948, and then later for the Pravda newspaper from 1959 to 1976. 

“We wanted to do something truly special to mark such a momentous moment in the collective history of the modern world. As a broadcaster specializing in high quality video content, we could think of no better homage to history to commemorate encapsulate our Victory Day campaign than deploying our expertise to inspire audiences around the world to revisit such a poignant, and important moment for us all,” said Boris Gorlov, Head of RT’s Creative Department. 

All historically available photographs taken on the roof of the Reichstag by Khaldei, as well as more than 40 supporting photographs of the Reichstag, surrounding buildings, panoramas and architecture were carefully analyzed in order to recreate the exact moment when the picture was taken. In addition, all photos of Yevgeny Khaldei as well as the three flag-bearers Alexey Kovalev, Abdulkhakim Ismailov and Leonid Gorichev from this period of time were examined. 

Behind the scenes: making of video — https://youtu.be/zvUOyp1E7bQ

Additional campaign assets — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c4ycJ-joXI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57M_wZhPtE

RT’s VR film, The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, has been nominated for this year’s Shorty Awards in six categories, including Best in Education, Best Use of Virtual Reality, and Best Use of Storytelling. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. It has been produced as part of RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages. 

Another selected RT work is the special adoptive font, developed for the #VictoryPages project and based on the handwriting, graffiti, carvings and etchings of the soldiers who left their messages on the fallen Reichstag’s walls in Berlin 75 years ago. It will compete for the award in the Best Brand Identity category.

#Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created as part of RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project that was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, is now competing for the Shorty Awards in six categories, including Best in Education, Most Creative Use of Technology, and Best in Books and News. #Romanovs100, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was offered across four platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Dyatlov Group’s Journal, Last Page, an interactive project launched by RT's RUPTLY multimedia news agency, became a finalist in three categories: Best Integrated Campaign, Best Multi-Platform Campaign, and Best Use of Storytelling. RUPTLY's project was shortlisted alongside entries by Netflix, Sony Pictures Television, Nickelodeon, Universal Pictures and Vice Media. The agency's immersive project is based on the personal diaries and photos of the group of Russian hikers who perished in the Ural Mountains in 1959.

Redfish, an independent journalism project, that is part of RUPTLY, became a finalist in two categories: Best in Social Activism, and Best Use of User-Generated Content. The Redfish team reported on protest movements in France, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and elsewhere on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In 2019, the #Romanovs100 project and the RT360 app for immersive panoramic content won the top prizes at the Shorty Awards. Ruptly broadcasts from the 'yellow vest' protests in France won gold for Best Live News Coverage, beating Bloomberg Media.

With “Dennis Miller +1,” RT America viewers can expect Miller’s same off-beat style, sparkling wit, sagacity and snark that have made him a star.

“What do I like in an interview? I like it when the host asks a question and then listens to the guest’s answer and then reacts to that answer with an amplification through the next question,” Miller said of his new project. “I promise you, I will not sit here finding myself overly precious and thinking only about my next query. I’m going to have a conversation!”

Legendary broadcaster Larry King congratulated his colleague. According to King, “Dennis Miller is an amazing person. He is not only very, VERY funny, but his intellect is sharper than any comedian out there. When you combine his talent, smarts and humor, it's going to be one terrific conversation. I look forward to watching him on Dennis Miller +1.”

“The entire planet is currently having a rather spirited back and forth, and it will be nice to jump back into the game. I aspire to walk in the footsteps of the industry’s best, true legend, Larry King, with whom I have been collaborating over the past year on his show and with whom I will now have the pleasure to be working on a regular basis,” said Miller.

King has been hosting “PoliticKing with Larry King,” developed exclusively for RT America, since 2013. Miller was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” from 1985 until 1991. He later hosted “the Dennis Miller Show” by Tribune Entertainment, “Dennis Miller Live” on HBO for eight years and “Dennis Miller” on CNBC. He also hosted a nationally syndicated self-titled talk radio program. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows and specials. Miller has made frequent appearances on RT America as guest host for King, sitting in for the eponymous broadcasting icon.

“It is a perfect show for intellectuals who are thirsty for sophisticated humor,” said Mikhail Solodovnikov, head of RT America. “Our first episode is already available on the Portable.TV app a few days ahead of the television premiere.” On the first episode of his show, Miller talks to actor and comedian Jeff Dunham.

Dedicated to the top US stories and the country’s most pressing issues, RT America is the proud home of "PoliticKing" with legendary broadcaster Larry King, prime-time blockbuster “News with Rick Sanchez,” special news program “News.Views.Hughes” with Scottie Nell Hughes, daily financial show “Boom Bust,” the Emmy-nominated “On Contact” with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, “America’s Lawyer” with hall-of-fame lawyer Mike Papantonio, “World According to Jesse” with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, “The Big Picture” with Holland Cooke, satirical late-night show “Redacted Tonight” with comedian Lee Camp, media-critique magazine “Eat The Press,” daytime shows “In Question,” “Watching the Hawks” and “Sports HQ.”

Malzberg said of his new show: “I have been highlighting media bias to my audiences for years. Some of it is blatant. Some is less obvious, and some is actually revealed by what the media is not telling you at all. With “Eat the Press,” I relish, pun intended, the opportunity I've been given by RT America to make this important issue my focus. Stay hungry, because “Eat The Press” will have a lot to offer each week.”

Over the years Malzberg has appeared on the Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and RT America, offering political and media punditry in his signature outspoken style. Malzberg regularly appears on RT America’s “News.Views.Hughes” show to discuss bias in mainstream media’s coverage of key issues of the day.

For more than 20 years Malzberg hosted shows at WABC Radio; later syndicated by the WOR Radio Network. He also spent five years hosting “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV.

About RT America:

RT America airs from Washington, DC and is part of RT, the global TV news network. Dedicated to the top US stories and the country’s most pressing issues, RT America presents nightly news broadcasts anchored by Rick Sanchez. It is also the proud home of “Politicking” with legendary broadcaster Larry King, award-winning financial show “Boom Bust”, the Emmy-nominated “On Contact” with Chris Hedges, “News.Views.Hughes” with political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes, “America’s Lawyer” with Mike Papantonio, “The Big Picture” with Holland Cooke, “World According to Jesse” with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, satirical late-night show “Redacted Tonight” with comedian Lee Camp and “Watching The Hawks” with Tyrel Ventura and Ameisha Cross. In the US, RT has a weekly TV audience of 11 million according to a survey on TV news consumption by Ipsos, a leading audience research firm. It is also the most watched TV news network on YouTube, with over 10 billion views. RT is the winner of the Monte Carlo TV Festival Award for Best 24-hour Newscast, and a seven-time Emmy finalist.

Two RT works have been nominated for the Best Coverage of Breaking News category. A special live report by RT Arabic correspondent Dalia Namari showed how her crew managed to get into an Israeli military base on the Lebanese border, which was hastily abandoned after a showdown with Hezbollah. Rick Sanchez, the anchor of RT America’s daily evening newscasts, is nominated for his coverage of a breaking news story about a police shooting, race relations, and law enforcement in the US.

Among RT’s highlighted documentary work is an episode from the series “An Epidemic” with Russian activist journalist Anton Krasovsky. The episode explores the spread of the HIV epidemic within Russia and USSR, the ongoing stigma around the issue, and the fight to reduce the scourge of the problem within Russia and other countries. Six more RT films are in the Documentary finals: Syrian Tango, The Coca Trap, Bolshoi: Pas-De-Brazil, Dying Alone, Machete Boys of Congo, and Reaping Divine Justice.

RT’s groundbreaking #Romanovs100 Augmented Reality Photo Album has received several design and technology nominations. #Romanovs100 is a multimedia, multiplatform publication which took place over the course of more than a year using archival material, including never before seen photos of the Russian Romanov royal family as part of the massive interactive project that received more than 20 international awards.

RT has been a recipient of dozens of the New York Festivals Awards throughout the years, for its news, documentary and creative content. Last year, #Romanovs100 took gold in two categories. In 2018, RT’s project #1917LIVE, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the revolution in Russia, and an RT documentary about the life of children in war-torn Syria, took top prize. In 2017, a series of special reports by RT about war-torn Libya and the documentary film “H2WOE” about the water shortage crisis in India both took gold. Julian Assange’s program on RT also took home gold, and the documentary film ‘Blood and Honor’ beat CNN’s entry for first prize.

Some of the most viral RT video content over the last year has been the network’s coverage of the Gilets Jaunes protests in France. RT journalists have reported on the ‘yellow vest’ movement since the first day of protests, often streaming live from the center of the clashes between protestors and police. 

In 2019, RT’s video news agency RUPTLY was the only outlet to capture exclusive footage of Julian Assange’s arrest as the WikiLeaks founder was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy and taken by the London police. RUPTLY’s was the only crew on site, effectively providing thousands of news outlets and media platforms around the world with the breaking news footage, including the BBC, CNN, the Telegraph and the Guardian. 

RT and RUPTLY also delivered live coverage of the Notre Dame fire in Paris and were the first to release drone footage of the visible damage to the iconic cathedral after the incident. 

In 2007, RT was the first Russian TV network to begin posting its content on YouTube, and in 2013 it became the world’s first news network to reach one billion views. “To develop such a great relationship that you have people coming back and consuming more and more, and consuming to a number like one billion — is simply amazing,” said the then-Google VP and Head of Content for YouTube Robert Kyncl. 

RT is a global, round-the-clock news network of eight TV channels, broadcasting news, current affairs, and documentaries, with digital platforms in six languages and the RUPTLY video news agency. According to a 2017 survey on TV news consumption by Ipsos, a leading audience research firm, RT has a total weekly audience of 100 million viewers in 47 of the 100+ countries where RT broadcasts are available. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be a seven-time Emmy finalist.

“Our journalists are equally enthusiastic about global events and stories that are important to the indigenous people of Latin America. We give a platform to those who are ignored by the mainstream media. And that’s why viewers love us,” says head of RT Spanish Victoria Vorontsova.

According to the Ipsos’ survey of weekly viewership, RT is in the top five most popular international TV channels in 10 Latin American countries. For over a year, RT Spanish website has been getting more traffic than the Spanish sites of BBC, Euronews, France 24, and teleSUR (SimilarWeb).

RT en Español is the top news channel in Spanish on YouTube. RT Spanish has more views than the Spanish-language versions of BBC, CNN, Euronews, and teleSUR. And videos posted by RT en Español on Facebook get 18 times more views than those of CNN, and almost 10 times more than BBC News Mundo (CrowdTangle, November 2019).

RT correspondents worked on the ground covering the migration crisis and protests in Latin America, the Catalan independence movement, the Mexican farmers’ struggle with major mining companies, and other important stories. In November 2019, RT was the first international media outlet to interview Argentina’s President-elect Alberto Fernandez. Rafael Correa, the former president of Ecuador, is a host of Conversation with Correa, a weekly political talk show on RT.

RT Spanish was the first international channel to start broadcasting through state providers in Argentina and Venezuela, gaining access to national audiences.

RT Spanish has been the winner and a finalist of various international awards, including the New York Festivals and Promax Awards. When RT Spanish started broadcasting in 2009, it was nominated by the British Broadcast Digital Awards as the best television channel launch of the year. Four years in a row RT en Español won awards from the Mexican Press Club, gaining recognition “for growth and freedom of speech advocacy”. In 2019, RT Spanish received two more awards from the Mexican Press Club.

The #Romanovs100 book marks the centennial of the Russian royal family’s execution. It combines the photos taken in the beginning of the 20th century with the augmented reality technology. Through the Romanovs100 app readers can access over 60 AR elements of the book, including interactive galleries, colorized photos, and VR animations. 

The #Romanovs100 book won in the Best use of Images category of Shorty Social Good Awards. RT’s AR photo album also took second place in the Virtual/Augmented Reality category of Epica Awards. 

The #Romanovs100 project, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was launched across four social media platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thousands of photographs from the Romanov family archive were published, making this the most complete photo collection of the royal family to ever be created. 

Earlier, the team behind #Romanovs100 undertook a year-long social media-based historical reenactment in the #1917LIVE project, which recreated the events of the February Revolution in real time by publishing a series of tweets from the accounts of notable historical figures of the time, including Tsar Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin. The project also included contributions of university professors from the US and UK, along with the world-renowned Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. 

Between them, RT’s #Romanovs100 and #1917LIVE hold over 50 international awards, including the Drum, Clio Entertainment, Promax, Shorty, Webby, Red Dot, ADC, Epica and New York Festivals. RT’s projects are also four-time finalists of one of the most prestigious competitions in marketing and advertising, the Cannes Lions.

RT France’s Interdit d’Interdire (“Forbidden to Forbid”) hosted by prominent French journalist Frédéric Taddeï is one of the finalists in the Politics and Business category, competing against Al Jazeera and the Financial Times, among other entries. In 2018, an Interdit d’Interdire episode on Yellow Vests protest movement in France was named among the top five TV clashes of the year according to LCI news channel and Le Figaro. 

RTDoc’s Syrian Tango was nominated in the Arts and Culture category, where it will compete for the win with a number of entries, including Al Jazeera’s. The documentary is about artists who didn’t leave their home country and remained in Syria despite the war. 

RTDoc’s My Forever Family documentary about the Road to Life charity foundation that helps Russian orphanages made it to the shortlist in the Domestic Affairs category. 

In 2015, legendary broadcast journalist Larry King, the host of Larry King Now and Politicking on RT America, was presented with the AIB Lifetime Achievement Award. 

This is the fifteenth year of the AIBs. The awards ceremony will be held on the 6th of November in London where winners will be chosen from 18 categories. 

The Association for International Broadcasting is the trade association for TV, radio, and online broadcasting, established in 1993. Its membership boasts leading international television and radio broadcasters, and major professional associations, with a total of more than 25,000 media organizations as members. Besides the headquarters in the UK, the AIB has regional offices in European countries, South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East.