NewsFront (website)

NewsFront
Type of site
News agency
Founded2014
Headquarters
Bakhchysarai in Russia-occupied Crimea
Area servedWorldwide
Key peopleKonstantin Knyrik
IndustryNews media
URLnews-front.info

NewsFront (sometimes written News Front) is a website based in Russian occupied Crimea, described by the United States Department of the Treasury as "a Crimea-based disinformation and propaganda outlet...particularly focused on supporting Russia-backed forces in Ukraine."[1] According to owner Konstantin Knyrik, however, NewsFront is fighting an "information war" against unfair attacks on Russia.[2] NewsFront describes itself as "a news agency that runs news in ten languages including Russian, German, English, Bulgarian, Georgian, French, and Spanish."[3]

The European Union's anti-disinformation unit EUvsDisinfo described NewsFront as a disinformation platform focused on Kremlin priorities. They wrote:

News Front latches on to any kind of discontent in each target audience, multiplies it and adds some content important to the Kremlin. This way, the Kremlin hopes, Ukraine will be associated with whatever the German audiences hate – feminism, multi-culturalism, migration; while a British audience associate Ukraine with right-wing extremists, US imperialism and colonialism.[4]

  1. ^ "Treasury Escalates Sanctions Against the Russian Government's Attempts to Influence U.S. Elections". United States Department of the Treasury. April 15, 2021. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2022. NewsFront is a Crimea-based disinformation and propaganda outlet that worked with FSB officers to coordinate a narrative that undermined the credibility of a news website advocating for human rights...NewsFront was also used to distribute false information about the COVID-19 vaccine, which further demonstrates the irresponsible and reckless conduct of Russian disinformation sites.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coda2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "A fake news lab Part II: A man from the Crimea". RISE Moldova. August 28, 2020. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022. News Front's website...is property of the Russian firm OOO МедиаГрупп Ньюс Фронт (MediaGroup News Front Ltd, as translated from Russian), which is co-owned by two men: half of its equity capital is held by Konstantin Knyrik, a native of Bakhchisaray city in the Crimea, and half is held by Mikhail Sinelin, a Russian national who had worked in the secretariat of the Russian Government..
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2019EuvsD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).