Farida Kurbangaleeva broadcast propaganda for Russian state television. In 2014, the star presenter resigned and went into exile. In Russia, she is considered a terrorist. SRF met her in Prague.
Farida Kurbangaleeva began her journalistic career in 1998 in Kazan, Russia, in regional media. She quickly joined Tatarstan’s public television, where she worked as a special correspondent and quickly attracted attention. In 2007, the young woman became a presenter of the main television news “Vesti” on Rossiya 1, one of the largest and influential public television channels in Russia. During these years, she was one of the most famous faces of Russian television, and also of the system, as she herself says today.
In a radio interview, Farida Kurbangaleeva later openly described how news production works on Russian state television: the editors-in-chief of the main channels meet every week with President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson in the Kremlin. This is where the guidelines are defined: what themes are prioritized, what tone is expected, what stories should be served.
In the interview with SRF’s Rundschau, she said she was surprised to see how easily many of her colleagues believed state propaganda. Critical questions about concrete events – for example, whether Russian ground troops were actually deployed there – often received evasive answers from superiors, but nonetheless unequivocal: “Please don’t ask me that.”
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine, Farida Kurbangaleeva began to question her relationship with Russian state television. With the increasing militarization and ideological coloring of information content, her discomfort grows: it becomes more and more difficult for her to present messages that she internally rejects.
The mechanisms of Russian propaganda
In addition to the annexation of Crimea, it is also the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which reinforces the journalist’s uneasiness and inner heartbreak. The Boeing 777 was hit by a Russian Buk missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 – all 298 people on board died. Russia then launched an unprecedented disinformation campaign. Farida Kurbangaleeva is spreading Russia’s unilateral messages against her own convictions. Looking back, she feels guilty and admits to having been part of this propaganda: “Yes, we spread disinformation in 2014. And I was part of it.”
After the plane crash, Farida Kurbangaleeva remembers the multitude of contradictory versions provided by the Russian state. The hypothesis according to which the plane had been loaded with corpses while it was already in flight seemed particularly grotesque to him. Despite their absurdity, such ideas were nevertheless presented on Russian television. In 2014, the star presenter decided to leave Rossiya 1. Her withdrawal from the system marked a turning point: from presenter loyal to the party line to critical and opposition journalist in exile.
In exile in Prague
Now in exile in Prague, Farida Kurbangaleeva has not given up her journalistic activity. Today she collaborates with the independent news media in exile “Govorit NeMoskva” and manages her own YouTube channel, on which she discusses political and socio-political themes. Her critical comments towards Putin and his government put her in the sights of the Russian authorities.
In February 2025, the Russian prosecutor’s office officially sent an extradition request to the Czech Republic. Three months later, the Prague City Court rejected the request: in Russia, according to the reasoning, neither freedom of the press nor a fair judicial procedure consistent with the rule of law are guaranteed. For the moment, Fardia Kurbangaleeva is therefore protected in Czechia – even if her legal situation remains tense. In July 2025, a Russian military court sentenced her in absentia to eight years in prison for these charges. In her country of origin, Farida Kurbangaleeva is today considered a terrorist and “foreign agent”, her name appears on Russian wanted lists.
Fighting misinformation
According to Farida Kurbangaleeva, propaganda is not going to stop: “Those who spread disinformation will always find a way to spread their propaganda.” In Russia, only a pro-Putin point of view dominates; alternative perspectives find no place. The journalist explains that there are also cultural reasons: “A large part of Putin’s electorate is used to watching television. This is a legacy of the Soviet era. And these people are used to believing everything they see on television.”
Today, Fardia Kurbangaleeva appreciates that in Switzerland and a large part of Europe, intensive work is being done to familiarize young people with a diverse media landscape. For her, this is essential: “It is important that there are different political forces, different sources of information, different media, different institutions.”
Dominique Marcel Iten and Adrian Lemmenmeier (SRF)
