The Russian government has tripled funding for state media since the outbreak of the war with Ukraine. Between January and March, the Russian budget spent 17.4 billion rubles on the "mass media" line item. In the same months of 2021, 5.4 billion rubles were spent on the media, which is a 3.2-fold increase in spending.

During the hostilities in March 2022, the Russian Ministry of Finance paid 11.9 billion rubles for state propaganda.

The company that runs the Russia Today TV channel receives the most money. Spending on media outlets loyal to the regime has increased more than on the army and internal security agencies.