Sota.Vision
Russian independent news outlet
Sota.Vision (SOTA)
Type of site
News media
Available inRussian
Founded2015
Country of originRussia
FounderAlexandra Ageeva
Key peopleAlexandra Ageeva, Oleg Elanchik (editor-in-chief)
URLhttps://sotavision.world
Current statusactive

Sota.Vision (SOTA) is a Russian independent news outlet,[1][2] created by a former Grani.ru reporter Alexandra Ageeva in 2015. It covered Russia's political life, including repressions, opposition rallies and anti-war protests.[3][4][5][6]

History

Sota.Vision website was launched in 2015 by Alexandra Ageeva and Oleg Elanchik, its future editor-in-chief. The same year it registered with Roskomnadzor as an official media and focused on social media.[7] The project had an extensive network of reporters and covered protests and political opposition in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and other regions.[8] Sota.Vision also cooperated with journalists in Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine, and the USA to report on topics related to Russia and the anti-war movement.[9]

Sota.Vision was the only media that broadcast the 2023 global rally in support of Alexei Navalny and other political prisoners in Russia that took place in 60 cities around the world.[10][11] In December 2024, the project was nominated for the annual Reporters Without Borders award as one of the few remaining independent media in Russia.[12]

Prosecution

The prosecution of Sota.Vision included attacks on its editors and reporters. On November 26, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated Oleg Elanchik as a foreign agent.[13] On February 11, 2022, Alexandra Ageeva was also designated as a foreign agent.[14] In October 2022, Sota.Vision's editor-in-chief, Yevgeny Domozhirov, was declared wanted.[15] The media itself was designated as a foreign agent in June 2023.[16]

In September 2022, Sota.Vision's reporter Artem Kriger was arrested during a live broadcast of anti-mobilization rallies and was subsequently summoned to the draft.[17] In January 2023, Sota.Vision's correspondents, Ilya Makarov and Maksim Litvinchuk, were detained for 15 days while covering a Moscow government meeting.[18] In March 2024, the Russian authorties arrested yet another Sota.Vision reported Antonina Favorskaya.[19]

Account hijacking

By early 2022, Sota.Vision had a team of 40 people (both internal and external staff) and over 300 thousand followers on social media. Because of prosecution and risk of arrest, Alexandra Ageeva had to leave Russia and move to Riga, Latvia.[20] She entrusted part of the login credentials to social media accounts to Alexey Obukhov, back then a Sota.Vision staff member. However, he declined to return control over Sota.Vision's resources.[21][22]

On May 28, 2022, an administrative account made a statement about the division of the project in Sota.Vision's Telegram channels.[23] The editorial team denied that the project was a mutually agreed breakup and emphasized that it was an illegal seizure. In Summer 2022, Sota.Vision partially regained its resources on Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook, and launched a new Telegram account.[24]

References

  1. ^ Crouch, Erik (2022-03-25). "Russian authorities harass, detain journalists with independent news outlet Sota.Vision". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  2. ^ ""Ich hasse ihn" – diese 5 russischen Journalisten in Riga provozieren Putin". Watson (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  3. ^ "Учредитель Sota.Vision Александра Айнбиндер признана иноагентом". Life.ru (in Russian). 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  4. ^ "СК переквалифицировал дело против соратников Навального – DW – 18.03.2021". dw.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  5. ^ Cole, Brendan (2021-05-07). "YouTube Accused of Censoring Navalny Election Initiative Targeting Putin". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  6. ^ "В России несколько человек вышли на митинг против войны с Украиной". Украинская правда (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  7. ^ "Роскомнадзор – Sota.vision". rkn.gov.ru. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  8. ^ "Russia arrests protesters on Ukraine war anniversary – DW – 02/24/2023". dw.com. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  9. ^ "How Russian journalists in Latvia navigate life in exile". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  10. ^ "The MoscowTimes – В 30 странах мира пройдут акции в поддержку Навального и политзаключенных".
  11. ^ "Акция "Год террора"". www.kasparovru.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  12. ^ "RSF reveals the 2024 shortlist for its Press Freedom Awards ahead of the ceremony in Washington DC this December". rsf.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  13. ^ "SOTA Founder and LGBT Center Recognized as Foreign Agents – Ruscrime". ruscrime.com. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  14. ^ "Минюст включил в список СМИ-иноагентов учредителя издания Sota.Vision". Forbes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  15. ^ "МВД объявило в розыск экс-координатора штаба Навального в Вологде". TASS. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  16. ^ "Russia's Justice Ministry announces new 'foreign agents': singer Boris Grebenshchikov and media outlets Sota.vision and Paper added to list". Novaya Gazeta Europe. 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  17. ^ "Russian anti-draft protesters being ordered to enlist, rights group says". Reuters.
  18. ^ Crouch, Erik (2023-01-25). "Russia orders journalists Ilya Makarov and Maksim Litvinchuk detained for 15 days". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  19. ^ "Russia is rounding up more journalists a year after the arrest of Evan Gershkovich". CNN. 29 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Forced into exile by Putin's war, Russian journalists are rebuilding their lives in Riga". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  21. ^ "Activatica". Activatica (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  22. ^ ""Мы не делили апельсин. У нас его попросту отняли": редакция Sotavision по поводу разделения "Соты"". ЛенИздат.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  23. ^ "Рейдерский захват издания SOTA. В "Утро Февраля" выяснили, кто стоит за этим". Утро Февраля (in Russian). 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  24. ^ SOTA (2022-06-19). "Апельсин не делили – его просто сп***или. Что происходит с проектом SOTA". Teletype. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  • Official Telegram channel
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