ТOP-5 surnames in Russian media for a week (May 2023).
06/06/2023, 11:00
The undisputed favorite is Vladimir Putin, who is usually mentioned in connection with positive events or official functions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky consistently holds the second place, with messages related to him typically having a negative connotation.
Third place is taken by US President Joe Biden. His presence in the ranking shows the emphasis of pro-Kremlin media on foreign policy and the desire to present the war as a conflict between Russia and the "collective West."
Yevgeny Prigozhin has confidently taken the fourth position. Media has paid an extreme attention to military actions in Bakhmut in May, where the Wagner PMC conducted assault operations and resonant attacks against the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov is rounding up this top five. In the existing role model of interaction with society, it is he who is entrusted with the function of commenting on and interpreting unpleasant issues for Putin.
It is worth noting separately that despite the so-called "CVO" dominating the information agenda of Russian media, the head of the military department Sergey Shoygu did not make it into the top five. Moreover, Shoygu's presence in the Russian information space is comparable to that of his Ukrainian counterpart – the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny (13,847 mentions versus 12,750).
The information space was analysed using a refined methodology based on monitoring 3200 Russian websites, telegram channels, YouTube channels, and significant accounts on VKontakte, Instagram and Facebook.
