Russia has appointed a “curator of the information space.” What will be his task in the occupied territories?

On September 30, 2022, a ceremony was held in Moscow of Russia’s illegal annexation of four oblasts of Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The Kremlin has appointed a “curator of the information space”

The inhabitants of these territories allegedly expressed their desire to join Russia during referendums organized a few days earlier, which had nothing to do with the norms of international law.

The American think tank Institute for War Studies reports that Russia has taken another step to strengthen control over the occupied oblasts of Ukraine. The authorities in the Kremlin appointed Sergei Kiriyenko as “curator of the information space.”

Kiriyenko is the first deputy head of the administration of the President of Russia. From March to August 1998, he was Russian Prime Minister. His new task is simply to take control of the media and cultural sectors in the east and south of Ukraine.

Media concern in the occupied territories

This purpose is to be served, among others, by: creation of the “New Regions” media concern in the Zaporizhia Oblast.

Last Sunday, December 31, Kiriyenko held a meeting on this matter with the collaborationist governor Yevgeny Balytsky and local “cultural workers”.

“Kiriyenko is leading efforts to consolidate socio-cultural control over the occupied areas of Ukraine. (…) Kiriyenko and Balytsky discussed the development of Russian-led cultural programs in the occupied Zaporizhia Oblast in 2024, including the creation of a media concern (…) that, with the support of the Russian federal government, will work on media projects in the occupied Ukraine,” we read in the latest report of the Institute for War Studies.