Sanctioned Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik changes domains to avoid restrictions

Insight News Media reported the information.

According to the outlet, they have discovered a new episode in the wanderings of the Spanish edition of the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik, which is banned in the EU for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and spreading Russian disinformation. Now, Russian propaganda in Spanish is spreading at a new address, noticiaslatam.lat. 

Sputnik, or Sputnik Mundo, has undergone a transformation, now targeting Spanish-speaking audiences with a new domain while maintaining its familiar style.

“Once the agents of influence faced sanctions, they quickly transitioned from one address to another. For example, in the spring of 2024, Russian propaganda launched the website latamnews.lat, which actually duplicated the Spanish version of Sputnik. This way, Kremlin propagandists circumvented EU sanctions,” the article reads.

Sputnik was previously broadcasting in Spanish at sputniknews.lat, but regulators sanctioned this domain address, so Sputnik moved its Spanish-language content to a new domain, noticiaslatam.lat.

Sputnik, despite its new domain and branding, retains its old web design and familiar Russian propaganda, including clichés about the “Kyiv regime” and NATO troops in Ukraine. The site, noticiaslatam.lat/Sputnik Mundo, frames the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “demilitarization and denazification operation” while focusing mainly on Latin American issues.

The Sputnik Mundo site features top tags like “Kursk” and “Supplying Ukraine with weapons,” along with articles alleging U.S. malfeasance and concerns about nuclear safety in Europe, particularly around the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

Russian propagandists ignore Russia's occupation of the Zaporizhzhia and Chornobyl NPPs and missile strikes near Ukrainian nuclear facilities, while focusing on outdated concerns about the Kursk NPP’s RBMK-100 reactors.

But the main issue for Spanish-speaking Russian propagandists is the rapid change of narratives that reflect the Kremlin’s position.

“Earlier, Putin warned that with Ukraine’s terrorist invasion of Kursk, Kyiv was trying to strengthen its position in possible negotiations, but now there is nothing to talk about with a party to the conflict that targets civilians and nuclear facilities,” the key message in the propagandists’ coverage.

Recent successes by Ukrainian forces in Kursk have shifted the narrative from Russian calls for peace talks based on their supposed achievements to a stance rejecting negotiations and emphasizing Kremlin-dictated terms in news reports on noticiaslatam.lat.

An analysis shows that Spanish-language news sites in Spain and Latin America are extensively republishing content from the “newly” rebranded noticiaslatam.lat website.

• prensa-latina.cu
• zona-militar.com
• confirmado.net
• vocesdelperiodista.mx
• vecinosenconflicto.com
• diario-octubre.com

Several high-traffic websites are helping spread Russian propaganda from noticiaslatam.lat in Spain and Latin America, despite EU sanctions against Sputnik and its materials.

Insight News Media concludes that these findings demonstrate Moscow's continuous efforts to find new methods for distributing its manipulative articles and disinformation to extend its political influence. It also notes that regulators need to act more swiftly in identifying new addresses for Sputnik and RT, as well as news outlets that spread or republish their content.