Russian National Guard Troops Have Been Assigned To Monitor Russian Propagandists

• 3.09.2026, 10:37

To protect against Ukrainian attacks.

The Russian National Guard has placed the heads of Russian television channels under protection due to the threat of Ukrainian attacks, according to four sources familiar with the matter "Agency". The initiative came from the head of the security agency Viktor Zolotov. An employee of one of the federal channels said that the Russian National Guard now provides escorts for virtually all TV executives, though not all of them are thrilled with these measures, as they entail constant surveillance by security forces.

The decision also applies to TV hosts. One of them recently celebrated his birthday in Moscow and arrived at the party with a security escort, another source reported. Another source familiar with the heads of Russian propaganda confirmed that, whereas previously channel executives were only occasionally escorted by non-departmental security personnel subordinate to the Russian Guard, the presence of security forces has now become significantly more noticeable.

Security for the propagandists began to be stepped up as early as the first months of the war, though at that time such measures affected only the most well-known among them. For example, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan publicly stated this after Daria Dugina — the daughter of philosopher and “Russian World” ideologue Alexander Dugin— was killed in a car bombing in August 2022.

In April 2023, in a St. Petersburg café, a Z-blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (Maxim Fomin) was blown up at a St. Petersburg café. In May of that same year, a bomb exploded in the car of writer Zakhar Prilepin—he was seriously injured, and his driver was killed.

Russian security forces also reported thwarted assassination attempts against well-known propagandists, including Simonyan, Vladimir Solovyov, Olga Skabeeva, and Dmitry Kiselyov.