Russian propaganda outlets change website addresses (domain names) to circumvent sanctions and continue to spread the Kremlin’s influence around the world. The Russian Federation specifically targets Latin America with its propaganda.
We 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.
Thus, Sputnik, also known as Sputnik Mundo, underwent a new metamorphosis, targeting the Spanish-speaking audience, and has migrated to a brand-new domain, keeping its usual 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. InsightNews dedicated a separate investigative article to this attempt.
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.
In other words, it’s still the same Sputnik, complete with the same web design and the same old Russian fake news clichés about the “Kyiv regime,” neo-Nazis, NATO troops in Ukraine, the illegitimate Zelenskyy, and other fabrications. And here again, we see a simple redirect to a new address. The Sputnik logo appears on the main page, and a block reminder alerts us to the blocked resource beneath each article.
According to the website noticiaslatam.lat/Sputnik Mundo, the invasion of Ukraine by Russian dictator Putin’s troops is “Russia’s demilitarization and denazification operation in Ukraine.” While the resource primarily focuses on Latin America, it also features several topics related to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
For example, the tags “Kursk” and “Supplying Ukraine with weapons” are at the top of the list. Also on top is an article by Sputnik Mundo about the United States’ “meanness,” which, with the help of Ukraine, blew up the Nord Stream pipeline and put Germany and the rest of Europe in a humiliating position.
For example, one report expresses concerns about nuclear safety in Europe and talks about the risks around the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
Meanwhile, Russian propagandists remain silent about their February 2024 occupation of the Zaporizhzhia and Chornobyl NPPs, with the former still under Russian control.
In addition, it is Russian troops who launch missile strikes and direct their shells and UAVs along a trajectory that passes close to other nuclear power plants under Ukrainian control. However, Sputnik does not tell its Latin American audience about this.
The propagandists are silent about Russian shelling of other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including the Neutron Source Center in Kharkiv. Instead, they lament the Kursk NPP’s use of the same dangerous RBMK-100 reactors as Chernobyl in 1986.
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.” This is a telling quote from the propagandists’ coverage.
Just a month ago, Russian propagandists were writing about the need for peace talks based on the “situation on the ground” (with Russia’s achievements), but now everything has changed and there can be no peace talks, according to the Kremlin’s media outlet. After all, Ukrainian forces succeeded in their Kursk operation, which demonstrated Russia’s inability to control its territory and the failure of its defense.
These events changed the narratives in the reports of noticiaslatam.lat about the “victory of the Russian Federation” and the need for negotiations on the terms dictated by the Kremlin in response to complaints about the danger and accusations of Ukraine.
An analysis of Sputnik’s materials distributed in Spanish at the new address indicates that news websites in Spain and Latin America are heavily republishing the “new” noticiaslatam.lat website.
Thus, a number of websites with a large volume of user traffic are involved in spreading Russian propaganda in Spain and Latin America. EU sanctions, on the other hand, prohibit not only the Sputnik publication itself but also the reprinting and distribution of its materials.
These findings show that Moscow is constantly looking for new ways to deliver its manipulative articles and disinformation to the world to spread its political influence. On the other hand, regulators need to more quickly identify new addresses for Sputnik and RT, as well as news outlets that disseminate or republish their reports and narratives.
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