Ex-Editor of Russia-1: Separate News Bulletins Edited for Putin for 15 Years
Former chief editor of Russia-1's 'Vesti' Dmitry Skorobutov revealed that since 2011, separate, non-broadcast news bulletins were produced for President Vladimir Putin to present an idealized picture of Russia.
Dmitry Skorobutov, a former chief editor of the program 'Vesti' on Russian state television 'Russia-1', has disclosed in an interview that since 2011, separate news bulletins were regularly prepared for President Vladimir Putin. These bulletins were not intended for public broadcast but solely for Putin, codenamed 'Main Viewer'.
According to Skorobutov, after the regular evening broadcast at 8 p.m., the production team would stay to create a special version. They were instructed to adjust the content – adding and removing stories, embellishing events, and hiding inconvenient facts – to project an idealized image of Russian reality and portray Putin as a great president.
This practice began after the massive protests in Moscow in 2011–2012, triggered by dissatisfaction with elections. Skorobutov stated that Putin's inner circle was shocked by the Bolotnaya events and decided to isolate the president from real information and the outside world.
He added that currently, Putin receives even less truthful information, especially about the war in Ukraine. After Ukrainian forces sank the Black Sea Fleet flagship 'Moskva' in April 2022, front-line reports began to be censored.
Skorobutov started his career with journalist Leonid Parfyonov, later worked at VGTRK, and became chief editor of 'Vesti' at age 26. He was a staunch Putin supporter for a long time but later reconsidered his views. After a conflict with management and dismissal in 2017, he publicly spoke about censorship and sued his former employer. In 2020, he was granted political asylum in Switzerland.
