Background and research approach

This research project is the first attempt to explore and map the Russian‑language media landscape in Finland. As an organisation whose mission is to promote the integration of the Russian-speaking population and their participation in Finnish society, the Cultura Foundation focuses on media consumption and trust in media as factors influencing integration. This study is therefore part of the Foundation’s broader research initiatives examining media, media consumption and trust in the media among Russian-speaking residents of Finland. The mapping of the Russian-language media landscape also serves a practical purpose, helping the Foundation understand the key actors and relationships within this space. This enables it to navigate the field more effectively and identify potential partners for future collaboration with Russian-language media actors in other projects.

Russian‑language media in Finland is a relatively recent phenomenon that remains underrepresented in both the country's mainstream media services and its media workforce (Ala-Fossi et al., 2021). While the national broadcaster Yle has offered Russian-language news on its radio station since 1990, Russian-language news did not appear on its national TV channel until 2013 (Fedorov, 2015). Currently, Yle Novosti has its own website with news articles and provides short (4-minute) news updates daily on national TV and radio. Traditional commercial Russian-language media, in contrast, has declined since 2014, almost disappearing in recent years alongside the decline of Russian tourism in Finland (Davydova-Minguet et al., 2019). The use of Russian-language media in Finland seems fragmented and spread across different channels. Traditional media outlets, both print and electronic, do not appear to be particularly popular among Russian speakers in Finland, who find them uninteresting and overly translated from Finnish (Davydova-Minguet et al., 2019). At the same time, the majority of Finland’s Russian speakers prefer media that does not originate from Russia, instead looking for local or international content (Khalimzoda & Siitonen, 2022). This situation creates ideal conditions for non-institutionalised, internet-based media seeking to fill the informational gap and satisfy the media consumption needs of Finland's Russian-speaking population.

The use of social media as a source of news is increasing rapidly worldwide, including Finland (Newman et al., 2025). The use of new video formats, social media personalities and influencers, and various social media platforms is changing the role of traditional media and making room for new and innovative ways of providing news to audiences. The emergence of new formats and platforms for circulating news has also changed the way we understand media consumption. According to the Digital News Report (Newman et al., 2025), around 90% of the Finnish population access news via online sources. Although the majority still prefer traditional media websites or apps, social media platforms are becoming increasingly important. Facebook is currently the most popular platform for news, while Instagram and TikTok are growing in popularity. Social media news consumption is particularly prevalent among young people, especially those who incidentally come across news on social media sites (Ehrlén et al., 2023; Sormanen et al., 2022). Digital technology has also facilitated the integration of migrants into the host society, as they can now more readily access news from their new environment through social media and digital tools (Valgas et al., 2025). However, scanning news on social media quickly and in new formats can lead to greater exposure to misinformation (Sormanen et al., 2022), while the extensive media coverage of certain political topics, news polarisation and the way in which media content flows via mobile devices can also lead to a growing phenomenon of news avoidance (Khalimzoda & Siitonen, 2022; Villi et al., 2022). Therefore, in order to increase media literacy and strengthen the resilience of the local population, it is crucial to understand the country's media landscape and how its population consumes media.

This exploratory study is an attempt to understand the online Russian‑language media landscape in Finland and its potential impact on media consumption. Rather than limiting the analysis to traditional media outlets, we examined the widest possible range of media formats within the Finnish media landscape. For the purposes of this research, we define 'medium' as any individual, group or institution that aims to inform or influence the Russian‑speaking population in Finland. We systematically selected and analysed the characteristics and connections of Russian-language media that meet this definition. This report presents the initial, partial results of the study, which are presented in the following sections.

This exploratory study employed a mixed methods approach, enabling insights and findings to be triangulated across diverse datasets. It also allowed emerging themes to be explored in more depth.

The research was carried out in several interconnected stages. The study design was guided by key research questions:

1. What kinds of Russian-language media exist in Finland?
2. Which social media platforms are most commonly used by Russian-language media in Finland?
3. How active is Russian-language media in Finland?
4. How well connected are Russian-language media actors on key social media platforms?

The sections that follow describe the data collection and analysis methods used in this study.

Social media mapping

The primary phase of this investigation entailed social media mapping. This included:

1. compiling a database of Russian-language media actors in Finland;
2. categorising them by type and activity.

The social media mapping was based on an initial database of around 500 Russian‑language social media profiles, which was compiled by the research team at the Cultura Foundation in April 2024 with the help of interns. This database was created manually using the search and recommendation features of major social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter), VKontakte and podcast platforms. The team also conducted keyword searches in Russian and Finnish (e.g. 'venäläiset Suomessa', 'русские в Финляндии', city names, topic-specific keywords), explored follower and subscription networks of known media and community accounts, consulted publicly available lists of Russian-speaking organisations and media in Finland, and drew on their own internal expertise.

As the first step of the current study, our team manually revised the initial database and selected media actors that met the five criteria set for this research:

1. Public accessibility. At least one account of the media actor must be open to the public. Private, closed and personal accounts were excluded due to ethical considerations.
2. Language. The media actor must use Russian as its main or secondary language.
3. Location and target audience. The media actor must be based in Finland or clearly aim at Finnish Russian speakers if the location is unclear.
4. Activity. At least one account of the media actor must have been active at the time of the research, posting at least once per month in the previous two months.
5. Media relevance. At least one account of the media actor must be considered a media account, meaning that at least one post in the last two months must address topics that extend beyond the interests of the group or individual managing the social media account. This could involve sharing information beyond the media actor’s area of expertise, initiating broader discussions about events or issues in Finland or elsewhere, or reaching an audience wider than the account’s followers or group members.

Of the nearly 500 actors on the initial list, only 113 fulfilled all five criteria and were included in the subsequent analysis. Each media actor was then manually classified by the type of actor and topic of activity. A total of seven types and seven topic types were identified, resulting in 49 possible combinations. Table 1 summarises the categories and their descriptions.

The first stage of the study took place between April and June 2025.

Social media data collection and processing

Following the social media mapping stage, the Instagram, Facebook and Telegram platforms were selected for further analysis as they were identified as the most popular among Russian‑speaking media in Finland. In the second phase, data was collected from all social media accounts of 98 media actors included in the study across these three platforms. This consisted of:

1. collection of activity metrics: compiling aggregated engagement statistics (e.g. number of posts, reactions, shares, forwards and other public counters) for each account
2. network construction: identifying and linking accounts through public interactions

The social media data used in this research was collected exclusively from publicly available Facebook, Instagram and Telegram accounts (130 accounts from 98 media actors), in full compliance with the terms of service of each platform. Rather than analysing the content of posts, the aim was to record observable activity, such as how often accounts posted, mentioned or interacted with one another.

Data was gathered over a period of one year, from 1 June 2024 to 1 June 2025. However, for the Damochki Finlyandii account, data collection took place between 6 February and 1 June 2025 due to technical limitations of the Apify service when processing accounts with large volumes of data. Data collection took place in June–July 2025, with data processing occurring in July–August 2025.

Public Facebook and Instagram data was retrieved using Apify, a service designed to provide legal, rate‑limited access to public social media pages. Telegram data was collected using Telethon, an official Python tool which enables access to public Telegram channels via its programming interface. All data was stored and processed locally in structured tables to ensure that no personal or private information was retained.

All processing and analysis were performed in the Python programming language. The pandas library was used for data handling, and the openpyxl library was used to create Excel outputs. To ensure transparency and facilitate further analysis and visualisation, all resulting datasets and network matrices were stored as Excel files.

Social media activity and network analysis

Further analysis of the data collected in the study was conducted to explore the Russian‑language media landscape in Finland. This included:

1. analysing the characteristics and activity of the Russian-language media landscape in Finland
2. analysing the connections of Russian-language media in Finland

The characteristics of the Russian‑language media landscape were analysed to answer the first three research questions of the study. The results of manual social media mapping and data collection carried out during the first stages of the research formed the basis of this analysis. The composition and activity of the Russian-language media in Finland were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 30.0.0.0.).

Network analysis was used to answer the final research question regarding the connectedness of Russian‑language media in Finland. At this stage, a connection was recorded as existing when one social media account mentioned, shared or followed another (on Telegram, mentions and forwards only; on Instagram, followings and mentions only). Adjacency network matrices were constructed for Facebook, Instagram and Telegram separately. Some interconnections between the platforms were also recorded, but these results have not been included in this report. The analysis of the social media networks was carried out using UCINET 6 for Windows (Borgatti et al., 2002).

Semi‑structured interviews

To gain a deeper and more detailed understanding of the Russian‑language media landscape in Finland, the statistical and network data were supplemented with qualitative interviews with selected media actors. The interviews aimed to:

1. gain a deeper understanding of how Russian-language media in Finland determine the scope of their mission, earn the trust of their audience and navigate the challenges of operating in a multilingual and polarised information sphere
2. reveal information on motivation, professional identities and adaptation strategies in this field

All interviews were conducted using a semi‑structured format. Topics covered included the profile and background of the media actor, motivation for creating and maintaining the media outlet, professional identity, audience characteristics and engagement, building feedback and trust with the audience, source selection and fact‑checking practices, choice of topics and thematic boundaries, security concerns and self-censorship, collaboration and connections with other media actors, promotion and visibility, monetisation, project and personal opportunities and risks, and the future outlook (opportunities and risks) of Russian-language media in Finland.

The qualitative part of the study took place between May and June 2025. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted, eight in person and two online. The interviewees were selected to represent the diversity of the Russian‑language media landscape in Finland (for the list of interviewees see Appendix 1). This included three representatives of media outlets, three individual accounts or bloggers, one representative of a business account, one group administrator, one representative of an NGO account and one representative of a community-based account. The interviews were led by Anastasia Prikazchikova and Danil Lopatkin. Each interview lasted approximately two hours.

Participants could choose to remain anonymous, and all interviews were recorded with their consent. The interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed in Russian. The interviews were transcribed using Turboscribe. The qualitative data was coded and analysed using Delve. Both software tools operate in compliance with GDPR and ensure that uploaded data is encrypted and stored securely.

This report only covers interview topics that fall within the scope of the network analysis. The results of the qualitative study were primarily used to supplement and validate those of the quantitative study. Further qualitative findings will be released as standalone thematic briefs and data packages in 2026.

It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study and how they affect the interpretation of the analysis. As this is an exploratory study, it is only possible to draw tentative conclusions on this under-researched topic. The aim of this work was to understand the scope and nature of the Russian‑language media landscape in Finland, and to lay the groundwork for more structured and conclusive research. Therefore, the preliminary results of this study should be confirmed with further research.

The manually compiled database used for this study is by no means exhaustive. Consequently, there may be additional Russian‑language social media accounts that fulfil the set criteria but were not included in this research. Due to the ever-changing nature of social media, creating an exhaustive database is likely impossible, but we believe that this research captured most relevant accounts. Future studies might set a goal to improve the database further and make it more complete.

Due to the exploratory nature of the study, we only analysed social media accounts that were publicly available and easy to access. Consequently, a significant proportion of accounts (e.g. private Facebook groups and closed Telegram channels) were excluded from the study. Similarly, neither the personal accounts of the audience members nor the content of posts on the social media accounts of the targeted Russian‑language media were analysed. As studying closed or private social media accounts raises multiple ethical considerations and requires more extensive preparation and lengthier research time, this was left for future exploration.

During the research, technical issues were encountered when analysing the Facebook accounts. Due to technical limitations of the Apify service when processing accounts with large volumes of data, only six months' worth of data could be analysed for the Damochki Finlyandii account. The results for this account, particularly the activity statistics, should therefore be interpreted with caution. However, we have chosen to include this account in the analysis because it is one of the largest and most active Russian‑language social media accounts on Facebook. Excluding it would hinder understanding of the media landscape more than including partial results.

The connections in this study were only measured in terms of their existence rather than their strength. As this was the first attempt to analyse such a highly fragmented network, we concluded that further analysis of connection strength was not essential at this exploratory stage. Consequently, it is not possible to differentiate between strong and weak connections, and only an overall picture of the Russian‑language media network could be obtained.

The study also considered only Russian-language media operating in or targeting Finland. Connections between Russian‑ and Finnish-language media in Finland were not examined. Similarly, links between Russian-language media in Finland and Russian-language media in other countries, including Russia, were not analysed. Both of these areas of research are planned for future research.

It is important to acknowledge that this study is subject to a high degree of self-selection bias with regard to the participants interviewed. Ideally, we would have sent interview invitations to all media actors in our database. However, this was not possible due to time and resource constraints. While the intention was to include a diverse range of Russian‑language media actors, the initial selection was based on accessibility and personal interest. Consequently, the full range of existing views and opinions may not be represented.

Despite these shortcomings and the exploratory nature of the study, the best possible results were achieved in the time frame.