Decorated Propagandists
On September 29, Vladimir Putin signed another decree on state awards. This time, 51 employees of Channel One received honors. The standard wording was used: “for achievements in the field of mass media and many years of conscientious work.”
The decree does not spell out exactly what each person is being rewarded for, but sometimes the answer becomes clear from the biography of the recipient. From a single episode or from the person’s career as a whole.
Correspondent Ivan Blagoy received the Order of Friendship. One of his best-known reports was the 2016 story about Lisa, a 13-year-old Russian-speaking girl in Germany who, according to Channel One, had allegedly been abducted and raped by migrants. The German investigation did not confirm either the kidnapping or the rape. The story nevertheless triggered protests, a diplomatic dispute and became part of a broader Russian television campaign about Europe’s “migration crisis.”
Kirill Brainin received the Order of Honor. The Insider previously analyzed his reports on the Skripal case and on allegations that former Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė had collaborated with the KGB, pointing to false or misleading claims in those reports.
These two examples do not make it obvious that the propagandists received their “awards” specifically for these stories. But sometimes the situation is much more transparent. One example is the well-known Dmitry Simes. The host of “The Great Game” received the Order of Friendship. In the United States, Simes has been a defendant in a federal criminal case since 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice says that after American sanctions were imposed on Channel One, he continued working for the network as a host and producer. According to the indictment, after the sanctions took effect Simes received more than $1 million from Channel One, as well as a car with a driver, money for housing in Moscow and a staff of ten people. He and his wife have been charged with offenses related to sanctions violations and money laundering.
And now the official Russian wording: the Order of Friendship - “for achievements in the field of mass media and many years of conscientious work.”
Sometimes adding commentary only makes it worse!
One Hundred and Six People in a Single Month
September 2026 turned out to be a generous month for gifts to propagandists.
On September 3, 28 Channel One employees received state awards. On September 18 - another 27. On September 29 - 51 more. In total, three decrees honored 106 employees of a single television channel in less than one month!
Not everyone on those lists is, strictly speaking, a propagandist. They include sports commentators, entertainment staff, producers, department heads and employees who do not determine the content of political broadcasts at all. But that is exactly what makes the trend so revealing. The entire propaganda infrastructure is being rewarded. Often with little apparent distinction. As if someone at the top simply handed down a quota: give this many decorations to this group, this many to that one. No one is to be left offended. There is plenty of “work” ahead!
The state is thanking the propaganda machine.
The people on political broadcasts and the people who keep those broadcasts running. Hosts and editors. Managers and correspondents.
Nothing New
There is a very clear starting point for the current practice of rewarding media figures.
On April 22, 2014, Putin signed Decree No. 269 awarding state honors to more than 300 employees of Russian media organizations. The decree was not publicly released at the time. The Kremlin confirmed that the document existed but said it was “not publicly available.” The stated reason for the awards was considerably more candid than today’s formula: “for high professionalism and objectivity in covering events in the Republic of Crimea.”
Here there is no need to reconstruct anything.
The Russian state itself directly linked media coverage of one of its most important military operations with the distribution of state decorations.
Among those honored were executives and presenters from Russia’s largest federal media outlets. Margarita Simonyan received the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 4th Class. Vladimir Solovyov received the Order of Alexander Nevsky. Vladimir Kulistikov, Aram Gabrelyanov, Tatyana Mitkova, Andrei Kondrashov and other executives and journalists from major television networks and media organizations also received awards.
Putin highly valued the propagandists’ efforts in creating a false picture of popular jubilation over the annexation of Crimea.
Solovyov: The State Said It All Itself
The story of propagandist Vladimir Solovyov is especially interesting because it is absolutely clear and transparent.
In 2007, he received the Order of Friendship - for his contribution to the development of Russian television.
In 2013 - the Order of Honor.
In 2014 - the Order of Alexander Nevsky for “high professionalism and objectivity in covering events in the Republic of Crimea.”
In 2022, the year the full-scale war began, he received the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 4th Class.
The wording of the last award is remarkable in its directness: “for great achievements in creating a positive image of Russia and active participation in socially significant events.”
Simonyan: A Ladder of Orders
Margarita Simonyan’s collection of state decorations is even more revealing.
Order of Friendship - 2007.
Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 4th Class - 2014, as part of the same Crimea-related awards.
Order of Alexander Nevsky - 2019.
Order of Honor - 2022.
Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 3rd Class - 2024. In the last case, officially - “for a major contribution to the development of Russian journalism” and participation in socially significant events.
It looks almost like a general’s ribbon rack.
The state does not simply thank the person it needs once. It rewards that person again and again, raising the level of the decoration.
This matters because in such a system an order ceases to be a random sign of recognition. It becomes a language of relations between the authorities and the media. The authorities are saying: we see what you are doing. And we need it.
There Is an Award Higher Than an Order
But state decorations are only the first level of the state’s gratitude to propagandists. The most interesting part begins where the medals end.
State television has become one of the personnel reserves of Russian politics.
Before entering parliament, Pyotr Tolstoy worked for Channel One and hosted “Politics” and “Time Will Tell.” In 2016, he became a State Duma deputy from United Russia and later deputy speaker of the chamber. The official State Duma biography records this sequence quite calmly: Channel One, political programs, then parliament.
Yevgeny Popov is a longtime journalist and host of “60 Minutes” on Russia-1. In 2021, he was elected to the State Duma from United Russia.
Yevgeny Revenko headed news broadcasting at VGTRK, worked as a presenter and author of “Vesti Nedeli,” and then moved into politics. He has been a State Duma deputy since 2016 and now serves as deputy head of the United Russia parliamentary faction.
Federal television provides recognition, political capital, access to power and an audience of millions. After several years of explaining state policy to viewers, a person may become a candidate for the ruling party, a deputy, a party official or the head of a parliamentary policy area.
Propagandists are in demand in politics as well. The ability to speak and persuade is highly valued by the state on the political stage too.
The hierarchy is fairly simple. First, you explain the authorities’ decisions on television. Then you may participate in making those decisions yourself.
An Order as Feedback
Every state award has not only a past, but also a future.
It tells not only the recipient that their work has been noticed.
It tells everyone else what kind of work is considered right.
A soldier is shown what act the state considers heroic.
A scientist - what achievement it considers important.
An official - what kind of service it considers exemplary.
A journalist - what needs to be written and filmed.
That is why the 2014 awards matter more than many studies of Russian television. The state formulated the criterion almost openly: coverage of the annexation of Crimea was declared “objective” - receive an order.
The 2022 wording for Solovyov is even more candid: creating a positive image of Russia is a state-recognized merit.
And in September 2026, more than one hundred Channel One employees received awards for achievements in the media and conscientious work.
Where Is the Propaganda Here?
Of course, not every employee of a state television channel is automatically a propagandist. Not every news broadcast is propaganda. Not every journalist who receives a state award owes the authorities their work.
But propaganda as a political function has fairly simple characteristics: it does not merely report on the actions of the authorities, but systematically creates the picture of the world the authorities need, explains why their decisions are correct, selects favorable interpretations and shapes the audience’s attitude toward friends and enemies.
When the state rewards a television host for “creating a positive image of Russia,” everyone understands that this is an award to a propagandist.
When the state rewards hundreds of media employees for many years of work or in connection with an anniversary, no one is confused about the terminology. It is an award for ensuring the uninterrupted operation of the propaganda machine.
The Russian state has created its own system of incentives for media outlets serving its information agenda: status, access, money, state awards and, for some, a political career.
That is why today’s list is interesting not because Ivan Blagoy or Dmitry Simes happened to be among the 51 people.
What matters is the number. What matters is the repetition. What matters is the twenty-year consistency.
For years, the state has been explaining to journalists on state television what kind of work it considers worthy.
Sometimes - through the wording of a decree. Sometimes - with money. Sometimes - with an order. Sometimes - with a parliamentary seat.
And on September 29, 2026, it showed once again that this system works perfectly.
And finally, the full list of the “award recipients.” So they are not forgotten.
Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 4th Class - 2
- Tatyana Garanina - Deputy Director General of Channel One
- Yury Simonov - host
Order of Honor
- Kirill Brainin - commentator
Order of Friendship - 6
- Sergey Andreyev
- Ivan Blagoy
- Alexey Kaskov
- Dmitry Simes
- Maxim Sharafutdinov
- Pyotr Shepin
Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 1st Class
- Ekaterina Berezovskaya
- Roman Budnikov
- Konstantin Vavilov
- Maria Vasilyeva
- Elena Demidova
- Grigory Yemelyanov
- Svetlana Zeynalova
- Yulia Zimina
- Valeria Korablyova
- Larisa Krymova
- Elena Lapshina
- Olga Masliy
- Ekaterina Mtsituridze
- Anton Nenashev
- Dmitry Orlov
- Tatyana Pirogova
- Timur Solovyov
- Rustam Suleimankhil
- Sergey Tugushev
- Andrei Ukharev
- Yulia Fatyukhina
- Olga Chernosvitova
Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 2nd Class
- Sergey Arkhipov
- Sergey Babayev
- Ilya Bulavinov
- Anton Volsky
- Olga Vorontsova
- Alyona Germanova
- Roman Gutzeit
- Alexander Dudkin
- Alexey Zotov
- Denis Kazansky
- Alexander Kosygin
- Olesya Loseva
- Irina Muromtseva
- Dmitry Popkov
- Denis Ratov
- Pavel Rudakov
- Alexander Smola
- Andrei Stolyarov
- Valery Shein
- Elena Shtokolova