From October 27 to 28, 2020, “Media Advocate” initiative monitored the publications of 5 leading Russian media outlets to find out how the Russian media covered the actions unleashed by Azerbaijan. The following media outlets were monitored: “Lenta ru”, “Gazeta ru”, “Ria Novosti”, “Regnum”, and “TASS”.
“Lenta.ru” published 30 articles, 15 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 8 of the Armenian side, 7 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts․ 5 out of 7 materials are neutral, 1 is pro-Armenian, 1 is pro-Azerbaijani.
“Gazeta ru” published 34 articles, 7 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 13 of the Armenian side, 14 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 11 out of 14 materials are neutral, 2 are pro-Armenian, 1 is pro-Azerbaijani.
“Ria Novosti” published 68 articles, 15 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 33 of the Armenian side, 20 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 16 out of 20 materials are neutral, none is pro-Armenian, 4 are pro-Azerbaijani.
“TASS” published 43 articles, 15 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 13 of the Armenian side, 15 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 14 out of 15 materials are neutral, none is pro-Armenian, 1 is pro-Azerbaijani.
“Regnum” published 64 articles, 14 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 21 of the Armenian side, 29 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 22 out of 29 materials are neutral, 5 are pro-Armenian, 2 are pro-Azerbaijani.
The Russian media once again referred to Turkey’s involvement in the Karabakh conflict: “Turkey has problems with recruiting militants, since most of the mercenaries refuse to go to Nagorno-Karabakh. This is due to two factors – the high probability of death, as well as the fact that Azerbaijanis are not Sunnis, but Shiites,” notes the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)․
The press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that during the negotiations with Turkey, the Russian side considered unacceptable the involvement of foreign fighters in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the Russian press, Altai social activist, founder of the School of Real Politics Konstantin Emeshin noted that the topic of the genocide of Armenian citizens has become relevant again․
