Russia’s Russkiy Mir TV targets 155k homes in occupied Ukraine

Russkiy Mir, the satellite TV service set up at the end of last year to deliver Russian-approved TV channels to the occupied regions of Ukraine, has been given a target of connecting 155,000 homes by the end of this year, according to local reports.

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said that installation teams should connect 155,000 homes in what the Russian government describes as Russia’s “new regions” by the end of this year.

Russkiy Mir – meaning ‘Russian World’, the phrase used by Kremlin propagandists to assert that Ukraine and Russia belong to the same cultural sphere ­– was set up at the end of last year to delivery Russian state-approved channels, part of a strategy observers interpreted as intended to isolate the inhabitants of the illegally annexed territories from outside information.

In addition to the occupied parts of the Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russkiy Mir has begun broadcasting in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

All channels on the platform are distributed free of charge via three packages, and equipment and installation is also reportedly provided free of charge.

One package comprises 20 Russian Federal TV channels from two digital multiplexes, while a second includes 10 regional channels from the occupied regions. A third package of nine entertainment channels is set to be launched in the future.

Use of reception equipment for the service is not permitted in Russia itself, where four satellite pay TV services – Tricolor TV, MTS, NTV-Plus and Orion – are available.

None of the four domestic satellite services are officially available thus far in occupied Ukraine. According to Russian news site ComNews, set-top boxes for Russkiy Mir bear a close resemblance to an officially discontinued line provided by GS Group, which supplies equipment to sister company Tricolor TV. GS Group denied that it was supplying equipment to the Russkiy Mir service.