20 March 2025
Associate Professor Wendy Sloane and Senior Lecturer Dr Sasha Raspopina, both part of London Met’s Journalism BA team, discussed the launch of their new book, Kremlin Media Wars: Censorship and Control Since the Invasion of Ukraine (Routledge, February 2025).
The edited volume explores Russian and foreign media under increasing control exerted by President Vladimir Putin’s government on independent journalists.
Combining rigorous academic research with reflective practitioner essays, the book also investigates the future of reporting in Russia and the implications for the country’s future.
It also offers an understanding of the experience of independent journalists and media outlets in Russia, as well as other individuals who experience censorship (academics, activists).
The book shows how the current situation in Russia and people’s experiences of censorship can inform our theoretical understandings of censorship and information control, in the context of twenty‑first‑century digital technologies and policymaking both inside and outside of Russia.
“Kremlin Media Wars came out of an international conference I held in 2023, which was my attempt to make better sense of what Russia had become and explore the challenges and reporting hurdles it presented for those in my profession following the invasion of Ukraine,” said Sloane.
Most of the chapters were written by those who responded to the call for papers, bringing together leading academics and PhD students as well as journalists from a variety of countries, most of whom had worked in Russia.
Special guest at the launch was Alexander Gubsky, publisher of the Moscow Times, who contributed to the book, writing about his own experiences as a member of media in exile. He is currently based in Amsterdam, as are many staff members from the Moscow Times.
His chapter, “Learning to cover Russia from outside of Russia”, gives an inside glimpse into how one publication has managed to survive despite being labelled a “foreign agent” and an “undesirable organisation” by the Russian government.
At the launch, Gubsky talked about how the Russian government blocks sites they consider unfriendly, and the ways in which Russians try to circumvent the censorship through the use of VPNs and encrypted sites such as Telegram. Earlier, he said that those who cooperate with “undesirable organisations” can risk six years in prison, and there are also risks for audiences based in Russia.
“While it is still legal to read the Moscow Times in Russia, sharing our articles, even ones published before 10 July 2024, is now a crime punishable by up to four years in prison,” he wrote in his chapter.
Several other chapters relate specifically to the work of the Gender and Sexual Diversity Research Group, exploring Putin's brave new patriarchy, and reporting on trans rights in an increasingly transphobic Russia.
“The widespread repression of the LGBTQIA+ community in Russia is just one example of how Putin is seeking to silence those who go against his agenda,” said Sloane. “Sadly, there are increasing parallels between his regime and that of Trump.”
Image: Dr Sasha Raspopina and Wendy Sloane.