„Sputnik Абхазия“

About the Agency

The Sputnik Abkhazia („Sputnik Абхазия“) news agency and radio service  started broadcasting in the de facto republic of Abkhazia on December 8, 2014. Unique users of the Abkhazian-language channel total 143 thousand, and the number of Russian-speaking users exceeds 12 million (according to 2019 data). Sputnik Abkhazia's information materials are actively used by other news resources, TV channels and radio broadcasters of the de facto republic.

Sputnik Abkhazia is owned by Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news agency, which was established by the Russian media group Russia Today (now RT) on November 10, 2014. Today, the agency broadcasts in many countries around the world (including the Tskhinvali region) and is often used to disseminate propaganda messages from the Kremlin. Consequently, pro-Russian and anti-Western messages can be found in the information materials of Sputnik Abkhazia.

About the Agency Activities

Sputnik Abkhazia is a multimedia news agency and its information releases vary in format, such as: articles, videos, photo tapes, infographics, podcasts and etc. Since its establishment, the Sputnik Abkhazia news agency has published more than 57 thousand articles, more than seven thousand videos, and up to 830 infographics. The news agency is also active in social networks. In total, number of its subscribers totals 165 thousand people (according to 2020 data). The agency covers current events in Abkhazia and beyond.

Sputnik Abkhazia initiated several projects. The notable is the 413 days project, which began on August 14, 2017. The project is a kind of chronicle of important events of the 1992-1993 so-called "Patriotic War" of Abkhazians. As part of a competition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the 1992-1993 war, the Union of Journalists awarded the news agency a special diploma for the project.

Also noteworthy is the project SputnikPro, which allows Abkhaz journalists to develop their skills. As part of the project, the leading media managers and journalists of the Russian Federation gave presentations and master classes and shared their experience with media specialists.

The Board of the Agency

The first head of Sputnik Abkhazia was Inal Lazba, an international relations specialist with experience in journalism. As known, in 2010-2011 he controlled information portals of Vladislav Ardzinba (the first de facto president of Abkhazia) and in 2012-2014  was an employee of an information department of the de facto Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia.

On September 27, 2016, Inal Lazba was replaced by Ruslan Bganba, who headed the media company Abkhazia FM and monitored information resources of so-called "state bodies" of Abkhazia.

Dmitry Nezdorovin, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik Abkhazia, has been working for the news agency since its inception. In his interview, Nezdorovin said that the initial goal of Sputnik Abkhazia was to introduce Abkhazia to the world and the world – to Abkhazia.

The Agency Structure

Sputnik Abkhazia is a media portal in Abkhazian and Russian languages. In 2016, a multimedia press center was opened in Sokhumi on the basis of the agency. The center is equipped with the latest technology and allows to hold various types of events. In 2017, radio broadcasting began and covered the entire territory of the de facto republic of Abkhazia. Since the beginning of broadcasting, Radio Sputnik Abkhazia hosted about 500 guests, and its total airtime reached a thousand hours. High-tech press center and radio broadcasting became a novelty that the agency offered to the de facto republic of Abkhazia.

Evaluation of the Agency’s Activities

A 2020 publication by the Georgian Center for Strategy and Development describes Sputnik Abkhazia as another propaganda tool of the Russian Federation that does not meet universally recognized journalistic standards. According to the same publication, Sputnik Abkhazia, unlike Sputnik South Ossetia, still creates little room for discussion, however, is not interested in covering the problems of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia.

Myth Detector published an article on December 2, 2019,  stating that Sputnik Abkhazia is a media outlet of the Kremlinm, which seeks to spread three main messages: European and Euro-Atlantic alliances are a threat to the people of Abkhazia (1); These alliances provide active military and financial assistance to Georgia, which is hostile to the de facto Republic of Abkhazia (2); The Russian Federation is the only power that can protect Abkhazia from the above-mentioned threats (3).

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