Shot of Discredit

Dear friends! On July 10, 2024, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declared The Moscow Times, the oldest independent Russian media outlet, an “undesirable” organization. The official reason? “For discrediting the decisions of the Russian leadership in both foreign and domestic policy” («За дискредитацию решений руководства Российской Федерации как во внешней, так и во внутренней политике»).

While this might make for a good toast, there was nothing fun about this designation for our team and our readers in Russia. It only brought new risks and challenges.In hitting us with this label, the Russian authorities hoped we would no longer be able to report on Russia in an engaging, objective way — and that our readers would stop paying attention.

But in reality, the opposite happened.

In 2024, traffic and engagement on all of our main platforms grew significantly compared to the previous year. By the end of the year, MT had become the second-largest exiled Russian media outlet online, according to Similarweb statistics. We’ve evolved into a true multimedia publication, constantly experimenting with new formats and distribution channels to maximize our impact. Though we started as a print newspaper over three decades ago, most of our audience growth in 2024-2025 came from YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

 And there’s more: in July 2024, the same month we were named “undesirable,” donations to The Moscow Times increased by 130% compared to the previous month — and we received twice as many donations in 2024 overall! We are infinitely grateful to you for this support. It’s what keeps us going and allows us to continue serving both our Russian- and English-speaking audiences. Thank you — and please, keep it up!

 To mark the first anniversary of our “undesirability,” we’re inviting you to celebrate with us. We’ve even prepared a few souvenirs for the occasion.

 The world around us is becoming increasingly unstable and dangerous, with reckless and unprincipled politicians rising to power in many corners of the globe. What can we oppose this with? Only our professionalism, our ideals and our sense of humor.

 So let’s raise our glasses to “discrediting” criminal and irresponsible leaders, and to those who continue to speak the truth despite them!

Alexander Gubsky

Publisher