TASS
Russian state
Background
TASS traces its roots to the Petrograd Telegraph Agency founded in 1904 and became the official news agency of the Soviet Union in 1925 (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union), serving as the primary state mouthpiece and a monopoly distributor of officially sanctioned news throughout the USSR. After the Soviet collapse it was renamed ITAR-TASS in 1992 before reverting to the TASS name in 2014. It remains a Federal State Unitary Enterprise, fully owned and funded by the Russian government, with its director general appointed by presidential decree. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, TASS has been sanctioned or restricted by the EU, UK, and other Western governments as a Kremlin propaganda instrument, and Western fact-checkers have repeatedly documented it publishing state disinformation, including fabricated or unverified claims about the war. It continues to operate one of the largest news-wire networks in Russia and the former Soviet space, supplying content to many domestic and some international outlets. Its reporting on domestic Russian politics, the war in Ukraine, and foreign affairs closely mirrors Kremlin messaging, and it rarely publishes material critical of the Russian government.
Sources
- TASS – State Media Monitor
- TASS
- Sergey Mikhaylov steps down as TASS director general, to be succeeded by Andrey Kondrashov - TASS
- Putin Ally Appointed To Head Russia's TASS News Agency
Profile compiled 2026-09-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.