Vladimir Putin delivered an address at 20th anniversary of RT
by Kremlin President of Russia [10-17-2025].
(RAD: Putin praises the work RT has done over the past 20 years. You definitely want to also listen to Margarita Simonyan's response that starts around 16:00. RT demonstrates every day what true journalism really is. — RAD)
Vladimir Putin delivered an address at a gala evening held at the Bolshoi Theatre to mark the 20th anniversary of the RT television channel.
Ahead of the ceremony, Margarita Simonyan, the channel’s Editor-in-Chief, accompanied by participants in the special military operation and journalists, presented to the Head of State an RT film about those involved in the special operation. The President also met with the main characters of documentary films produced under the RT.doc project.
The RT international television channel commenced broadcasting in 2005. Its output is transmitted in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, and Serbian. The television network is complemented by multilingual digital platforms. Furthermore, RT maintains a presence on popular social media networks in Chinese and Hindi.
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Address at the gala evening marking the 20th anniversary of RT
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends.
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to this magnificent hall of the Bolshoi Theatre for the celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the Russia Today channel.
Today, I extend my congratulations on this milestone to everyone who has worked and continues to work for the television channel, and of course, to Margarita Simonyan – your leader, the steadfast Editor-in-Chief.
Dear Margarita, we all know – and everyone in this team certainly knows – how difficult this period is for you and what your family is presently enduring. Yet at work, you invariably demonstrate courage and resolve. I am confident you will overcome this challenge, too.
Margarita Simonyan: Thank you. I promise.
Vladimir Putin: Your friends, your colleagues – they have always been by your side and will remain so.
These past 20 years represent an entire epoch in the media landscape. Russia Today has matured from a concept into a global brand now recognised worldwide. I thank your dynamic, creative, and close-knit team for the high level professionalism, dedication to your craft and duty. For boldly, selflessly, and persistently upholding the truth in the global information space.
We recall how, in the early 2000s, leading Western media outlets exploited their hegemonic position. Often – or rather, almost invariably – under the guise of objective news, they disseminated content entirely at their discretion, attempting to impose not merely new rules but an entirely new civilisational paradigm based on false moral values into the minds and hearts of millions.
To this day, it remains nothing short of outrageous when terrorists who took hostages and orchestrated deadly explosions in our cities, schools, and hospitals were referred to as “insurgents” on prominent Western channels – as if the world should sympathise with these scoundrels and child-killers.
At that time, it was difficult for us to defend the truth, to uphold an accurate depiction of events, because beyond our borders, we lacked a powerful voice. Let me underscore that Russia’s sovereignty – for which we have fought, continue to fight, and will always fight – depends, among other things, on our ability to deliver objective, unbiased information to people across the planet.
This is why RT had to emerge – and it did, 20 years ago. The company faced a formidable task: to build its operations at a qualitatively new level, both substantively and technologically. I am genuinely pleased that we – that you – succeeded. And succeeded brilliantly: millions of citizens in different countries came to trust you. Moreover, it turned out there was enormous demand for news that differed from the endless propaganda which, frankly, today differs little from the well-worn Soviet-era clichés many in this hall remember. That’s how they work.
This is precisely why, I believe, true professionals, including those from the United States, Europe, and across all continents, wanted to collaborate with you. Not merely collaborate, but work with you. Not because of the money, of course, but above all because you provided these people with a platform to express their views and convey them to millions. That is why we saw among RT’s leading figures the legendary WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the global television star Larry King, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, and many, many others.
You were rapidly gaining popularity and influence. As a result, your competitors began to envy you, and sometimes, in my opinion, not just envy, but fear you, which is a sure sign that you were one step ahead of them setting the information agenda and doing important and meaningful work. And when you made yourself truly known, those same competitors and the so-called ruling elites behind them showed their true colours. Margarita just told me about this. She regularly updates me on how they tried and continue to try to pin you down on international platforms.
For years on end, they have been lecturing us on how to live our lives, how the media should operate, how to understand democracy and what democracy is, what true freedom of speech is, and convinced us of the importance of competition, pluralism, and so on. What happened to these mentors when RT came on the air and hundreds of millions of people began watching a channel offering a different interpretation of ongoing developments?
The reaction of the elites I have just mentioned was primitive and straightforward: ban, cancel, and block. You know, when I served as director of the Federal Security Service of Russia, I tried to abolish this style of work even in an agency like the FSB. I was of the opinion that we should work more subtly by way of persuasion, we should mitigate threats differently, not the way it used to be done in the Soviet Union, which we referred to as “grab them and hold them back.” This is exactly what is happening, unfortunately, in the information sphere, with regard to your channel.
Accusing anyone of spreading propaganda and disinformation, or interfering in internal affairs does not require much effort. In fact, you were not imposing anything. You were simply offering an alternative and truthful point of view. And in doing so, you were upholding, among other things, the right of your viewers and listeners to choose. But your partners saw the very existence of such a choice as a threat to themselves. Over the years of RT’s development, you sincerely tried to build, and you did build, precisely this kind of partnership with your audiences. And you succeeded. Any monopoly inevitably comes to an end sooner or later, no matter how much those who maintain it pay to preserve it.
Today, in an increasingly multipolar world, intolerance of any sovereign and independent thought is more than just an anachronism. It is a huge obstacle to the development of mutual understanding and trust between peoples, which we all need. And this obstacle, like all others, will, without a doubt, be removed. There is no other way.
For two decades already, including thanks to RT, we have been listening to an entire palette of voices from all over the world. Residents of Asia, Africa and Latin America can now speak out, with your assistance, without regard to the approval by former colonial powers and former colonial authorities. It is very important that the RT TV channel provides its platform to journalists, scientists and experts from all over the world. And the main thing: people of different views, convictions and ethnic origin continue to watch RT and read your social networks despite prohibitions and technical obstacles. Even representatives of Western elites admit that Russia Today has a larger audience than their own TV channels.
Last year alone, the total number of views of the channel projects on social networks reached almost 24 billion and the total audience of the RT channels on the pay television platforms made up almost a billion of viewers. This figure gives us confidence that everything will go on developing in the same vein.
It is clear why. In Europe, in the United States as well as in other countries their citizens seek to preserve their national culture, the memory of generations, and oppose social inequality, destruction of the family institution and encroachments on children’s innocence. All this is consonant with the position of Russia on these issues and largely thanks to RT the world has learnt that our country firmly stands for traditional values and constitutes their stronghold in the contemporary life full of contradictions, conflicts and challenges. And we do not discriminate anybody at that, we do not prohibit anything, including in the areas that I have mentioned. We are simply trying to defend our point of view and our outlook on the modern world and the future.
I am sure that this similarity of views helps people on different continents believe in themselves, their strength and abilities.
It is hard to overestimate the contribution of Russia Today to our common struggle for a fairer and more stable world order, for preserving civilisational diversity, for the consolidation of more and more countries, people and nations around these creative ideas.
I would like to stress: you are performing difficult and intense work in your area both for the future of our people and for the future of millions of people on the planet, who are striving for real, genuine freedom.
Friends,
Journalists, camera operators, and colleagues from RT’s other media projects are consistently at the epicentre and forefront of events – perpetually on the frontline, both literally and figuratively. Fearlessness and a steadfast commitment to the truth are the defining qualities of the channel’s staff. We have witnessed this in Iraq, Syria, across the Middle East, and in various other conflict zones. Today, in the special military operation zone, you continue this tradition. Risking your lives, you report on the heroism and deeds of our soldiers and commanders.
There are countless examples demonstrating that RT employs individuals who are true to their profession, devoted to their Homeland, and unwavering in their convictions. Even foreign nationals – of whom there are many within the channel – while defending their own beliefs, assist in promoting these ideas in their own countries and among their own communities. They act with absolute honesty and openness.
Just before arriving here, onto the historic stage of the Bolshoi Theatre, we met and conversed with your colleagues working in the combat zone, filming documentaries about the heroes of the special military operation who are present in this hall. I would ask you to give them a special welcome. What was so striking? Both the fighters who have returned from the frontlines of the special military operation and the journalists working for the channel appeared as one family – because they are all courageous, heroic individuals fighting for their convictions. This is the true value of your work.
Friends,
Twenty years represent a significant milestone in the journey of your channel and your remarkable team. The world is changing rapidly: technology is transforming journalism. Social media sets new rhythms, and audiences increasingly consume news in digital formats. You are successfully meeting these challenges, remaining bold, open, and creative. RT possesses the most essential assets: experience, a professional team, and the trust of its viewers. RT fosters a free-spirited atmosphere, with many young people who represent the future, and, undoubtedly, new victories lie ahead.
I wish you continued growth, the discovery of new formats and themes in the fierce battle for hearts and minds. To prevail in this struggle, you must continue wielding your secret strategic weapon – high-precision, intercontinental in its reach – the truth.
The voice of truth, the voice of Russia, must resound loudly, confidently, and persuasively!
Happy anniversary! Happy birthday!
Margarita Simonyan: You mentioned, by the way, Rafael Correa – he is now in this hall.
Present in this hall are our friends, our colleagues from every continent, from a vast number of countries, who have come to congratulate us, including people whose ancestors would be proud of them, I’m sure. Here, for example, are descendants of Charles de Gaulle and Otto von Bismarck; here is the son of the current President of Nicaragua; there are members of the European Parliament – though I do not know what will happen to them when they return, yet nevertheless they made it here. I want to thank everyone.
I want to express a tremendous thank you, Mr President, to you for rightly noting that we work based on our convictions, that we defend our beliefs. It is a privilege to have the opportunity not merely to lie on the sofa and grumble, but to work for one’s convictions. This privilege we have thanks to you. I remember when you appointed me 20 years ago – it seemed to me the world had gone mad, and the main task was not to disgrace myself. It was impossible to imagine, firstly, that all this would be created, and secondly, that it would grow into such a colossal enterprise.
I want, in your presence, to bow. To bow to the people who work for RT – these are thousands of people who risk their lives. Yesterday, our colleague from Rossiya Segodnya was killed; a second is in critical condition, and doctors are now fighting for his life. This, unfortunately, is news that has become routine for us, it is part of our professional life. When we enrol in journalism school and receive our diplomas, we understand what we are signing up for. And yet, each time, it is always a tragedy.
What you all endure – what we endure when they fight us, as you rightly noted, Mr President – well, it rather makes us laugh. We are Russian people, even if some of us are Armenian. We grow tougher, as they say. So, it only makes us more spirited.
All the sanctions, the inability to travel somewhere, to watch something, to speak with someone – it is all such insignificance to us compared to the incredible honour and pride of serving our Motherland! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for this.
I congratulate everyone!
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