Yevgeny Zubarev, director of RIA FAN news agency, which is part of the holding, informed about the closure of the holding. In a short video released Saturday evening, Zhubarev did not give reasons for the decision. He also said Patriot Holding defended Vladimir Putin against opposition parties in Russia, including Alexei Navalny.
Earlier, the state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, blocked media owned by Patriot Holding. Russian media cited by Reuters reported that a “troll factory” linked to Prigogine had been dismantled. Earlier, there were reports that Prigozhin’s media assets, mainly in St. Petersburg, would be acquired by Yuri Kovalchuk, a businessman considered a close friend of Putin.
“Troll Factory” (official name: Agencja Studiów Internetowych) was founded in 2013. Its employees created fictitious social media accounts and mass-produced pro-government comments attacking the opposition. In March 2018, the United States placed Prigozhin’s “troll factory” and other companies under sanctions for attempting to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election.
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