TASS

TASS is Russia’s state news agency, tracing its origins to 1904. It is constituted as the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, ITAR-TASS, with the Government of the Russian Federation as its founder. Renamed in 1992 following the Soviet Union’s dissolution, it reclaimed the TASS name in 2014.

Media assets

News agency: TASS

In September 2023 TASS reported that it operated dozens of regional bureaus in Russia and 56 offices in 51 foreign countries. It published approximately 3,000 news items and 700 photographs and videos daily and offered newswires and thematic services in the six official languages of the United Nations.

TASS retains a minority holding in Channel One, reported at approximately 6.11 per cent following that channel’s 2021 recapitalisation.

On 2 September 2025 TASS and China’s Xinhua adopted a cooperation-development strategy covering 2026 to 2030, as part of the documents concluded during President Putin’s visit to China.

Ownership and governance

TASS is a Federal State Unitary Enterprise whose founder is the Government of the Russian Federation. Its Director General is appointed and dismissed by the Government.

Andrey Kondrashov was appointed by Government Order No. 1793-r of 5 July 2023 and remained the registered head in September 2026.

A senior dismissal demonstrated the directness of that authority. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin dismissed Mikhail Gusman, First Deputy Director General since 1999, by order on 24 July 2025. The Government gave no reason. The dismissal followed his appearance at the Shusha Global Media Forum amid worsening Russian-Azerbaijani relations and criticism from pro-war nationalist commentators. State Media Monitor records the dismissal as evidence of direct government power to remove senior management, not as proven retaliation for that appearance.

Source of funding and budget

TASS is financed principally through federal budget subsidies.

Federal Law No. 426-FZ, as amended on 26 June 2026, provides RUB 5,012,433,100 under TASS’s main subsidy line. The stated purposes include covering state policy and public life, collecting and distributing information, providing public authorities with information and supporting international activity.

Two further TASS-specific lines provide RUB 45.927 million for organisational and technical support to a socio-political channel for children aged eight to sixteen, and RUB 50 million for a comprehensive information resource concerning the North Caucasus Federal District. Identified TASS-specific support for 2026 therefore stands at at least RUB 5.1084 billion.

The corresponding planned figures for the main subsidy line are RUB 3.2283 billion for 2027 and RUB 3.2399 billion for 2028. The figure of RUB 3.21 billion circulating for 2026 was an earlier projection from the previous budget cycle and has been superseded.

Documented earlier allocations include approximately RUB 2.9 billion in 2020, RUB 3.1 billion in 2021 and close to RUB 4 billion in 2022.

Editorial independence

The principal budget line states the agency’s function. It expressly finances coverage of state policy and public life, the provision of information to public authorities and international activity.

Content analyses conducted for State Media Monitor in March 2023 and in February and March 2024 found that the agency consistently functioned as a channel for official policy. Academic and non-governmental research has found its coverage reflecting government guidelines.

Russia’s Law on Mass Media protects freedom of mass information in Article 1 and prohibits censorship in Article 3. Article 18 restricts founder interference but allows exceptions established by legislation, the editorial charter or the founding agreement. Article 19 describes the editorial office as professionally independent.

Those provisions do not create structural independence. TASS’s founder is the Government, its Director General is a government appointment, and Article 18’s exceptions permit intervention where authorised by law, charter or agreement.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published TASS policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure, and could not establish the extent of adoption in production.

Classification rationale

TASS remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is wholly state-owned and government-governed. The agency is constituted as the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, with the Government of the Russian Federation as its founder. Its Director General is appointed and dismissed by the Government. Andrey Kondrashov has held the position since July 2023 and remained in post in September 2026. No independent supervisory board, protected appointment procedure or external oversight mechanism was identified.

It is substantially state-funded. The enacted 2026 budget provides RUB 5.0124 billion under TASS’s main subsidy line. Two further TASS-specific programmes provide RUB 45.927 million and RUB 50 million, bringing identified support to at least RUB 5.1084 billion. Registry-derived financial statements are available through 2022, but no recent accounts or current breakdown between subsidy and commercial income were identified.

Its editorial agenda serves documented state functions. The principal budget line expressly finances coverage of state policy and public life, provision of information to public authorities and international activity. Content analyses conducted for State Media Monitor in March 2023 and early 2024 found that the agency consistently functioned as a channel for official policy. Articles 1, 3, 18 and 19 of the Law on Mass Media contain formal protections, but these are unsupported by governance independent of the state founder.

September 2026