Russia: one year after Yevgeny Prigozhin's death, the shadow of the Wagner propaganda system still looms large

"Wagner Group commandos in front of a Typhoon armoured vehicle in one of the Sahel countries in Africa." Posted on 23 July, this was the last message sent by Nikita Fedyanin, the administrator of the Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Grey Zone. This Russian propagandist was killed a few days later alongside other Wagner Group mercenaries in Mali. A message confirming Fedyanin's death has been the only one posted since then on this channel, which had remained active after Prigozhin's death on 23 August 2023.

Much of Prigozhin's media empire, which included propaganda outlets, troll factories and Telegram channels, was dismantled after his failed mutiny in June 2023 and his death two months later. But some of his outlets still exist and continue their disinformation work. Wagner-affiliated networks on Telegram have fallen into line with the Kremlin's narrative. The most popular channels - Grey Zone (565,000 followers), Wagner Orchestra (580,000 followers), and Prigozhin's Cap (331,000 followers) - had previously criticised Russian military command decisions in Ukraine that led to military setbacks. They now toe the official line and, for example, transmit videos on the Russian army's advances in the occupied territories and statements by Russian officials, without forgetting to pay tribute to the Wagner veterans who fought in Ukraine. They also cover the Wagner Group's operations in other countries such as the Central African Republic, Mali and Venezuela.

Propaganda media ready to resume operating

Not all of Prigozhin's media outlets have disappeared and some are ready to resume operating. In June 2024, a Russian court rejecteda request by Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecommunications regulator, to suspend the licences of RIA FAN, Narodnye Novosti and Ekonomika Segodnya, three of his flagship media outlets, which were closed in the summer of 2023 and were due to have been liquidated in the spring of 2024.

According to a report in Fontanka.ru, an independent media outlet based in Saint Petersburg, the legal entities of these three media outlets are frozen but they still exist and the funding of their domain names is assured for a few more months. Talkswere recently held with Prigozhin's son and heir, Pavel Prigozhin, about reviving them without a final decision being taken.

Prigozhin's former acolytes are waging a fierce battle to be sole master of disinformation. The ruling saving the three flagship media outlets from the chopping block came a few days after the arrestof Ilya Gorbunov, a propagandist and top manager at the Patriot Media Group, a Prigozhin-owned holding that was dissolved in the summer of 2023. Gorbunov is accused of "extortion" by Alexander Malkevich, a onetime Prigozhin employee and close friend who has developed a Kremlin propaganda networkin the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia since February 2022.

Chief propagandist in occupied Ukraine

Malkevich, who says he distanced himself from Prigozhin in 2021 after spending part of his career in a close relationship with the Wagner Group, has retained his role as chief propagandist in Ukraine's occupied territories. Trained in Prigozhin "methods," Malkevich is particularly active on social media and often draws attention to himself by posting "recommendations" for "journalists" in the occupied territories, participating in youth forums in these territories and interviewing local "authorities."

After Russia launched its invasion in 2022, Malkevich founded propaganda media in the occupied southeastern regions of Ukraine, including as Mariupol 24 in Mariupol, Tavria TV in Kherson - which was occupied until November 2023- and the ZaMedia group in Melitopol, which includes a TV channel, a radio station, and several local newspapers. These propaganda outlets have never stopped disseminating the Kremlin's narrative, systematically portraying the Russian occupation as a "liberation," broadcasting calls to join the Russian armed forces, and covering Vladimir Putin's every move.

Wanted by US and Ukrainian justice

Malkevich's "Wagner-style" propaganda system has not gone unnoticed. The US Department of States is offering a rewardof up to 10 million US dollars (about 9 million euros) for information leading to Malkevich's "location or identification" for engaging in interference in US elections.

A faithful relay of Moscow's propaganda who has specialised in supporting the Russian disinformation empire among local populations in Ukraine's occupied territories, Malkevich often recruitsyoung Ukrainians living under occupation for his propaganda media. But the justice system in free Ukraine has turned its sights on some of his young collaborators. They

include Oleksandr Yakymets, a 19-year-old Ukrainian propagandist working for the Mariupol 24 TV channel, who has been under investigationsince January 2024 for "collaboration," and Ihor Belinsky, the channel's editing director, who has been the subject of "collaboration" proceedings since May 2024.

Ukraine is ranked 61st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index, while Russia is ranked 162nd.