For the past ten years, the Cairo office of Russian state media outlets RIA Novosti and Sputnik has centralised their international news coverage in  Arabic. These outlets capitalise on criticism of Western media coverage to amplify the Kremlin’s narrative in the region. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has investigated their influence on Arabophone audiences and warns of the threats these agencies pose to reliable information.

Russian media outlets have plenty of space to spread their propaganda in most Arab countries. RIA Novosti and Sputnik’s power to spread disinformation is multiplied in a region already sceptical of the West, especially in authoritarian countries where local journalists are silenced. Only a free media landscape can provide Arabic-speaking audiences with quality information.