The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment that the Kremlin has allowed the ever-growing informal military blogger community (which mainly consists of military correspondent or voenkors) to gain a quasi-official but independent position despite otherwise increasing domestic censorship.
The Kremlin has historically promulgated its state narrative via Russian federal TV channels and print media but has allowed the highly individualistic and often critical military blogger community to put forth its own narratives regarding this war. "That the Kremlin tolerates this community is astonishing given its censorship of other more traditional outlets including opposition and foreign media," the ISW found.
The experts note, however, that those correspondents are not fully separate from the Russian government. Russian investigative outlet The Bell, for example, uncovered that the creator of one of the most influential Russian Telegram channels, Rybar, is a former employee of the Russian Ministry of Defense press service.
