gagauznews.com
Gagauznews.com is a Russian-language portal that publishes news about the Gagauz region, as well as national and international news with a focus on the Russian Federation.
In February 2022, just days after the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine and the declaration of a state of emergency in the Republic of Moldova, the Information and Security Service (SIS) of Moldova ordered the blocking of the gagauznews.md website, citing it as a "promoter of information that incites hatred and war during the state of emergency." However, Gagauznews continued its operations by changing its domain from gagauznews.md to gagauznews.com, thus circumventing the SIS's blockage.
Law enforcement officers searched the home of Nikolai Kostyrkin, editor of the news portal Gagauznews.md, and detained him in June 2022. According to the Prosecutor's Office, "[...] the suspect, under the conditions of the state of emergency established in the context of the armed regional conflict in Ukraine, systematically published and spread propaganda elements justifying military aggression against Ukraine through the communication channels he managed and administered."
According to the StopFals.md portal, which specializes in fact-checking, Gagauznews.com has repeatedly disseminated false information.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | Missing data |
|---|---|
| Ownership Type | Community |
| Geographic Coverage | Transnational |
| Content Type | Free |
| Data Unavailable | ownership data is not publicly available, company/channel denies the release of information or does not respond, no public record exists |
| Media Companies / Groups | AO "Centrul comunitar anticriză" |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | The gagauznews.com website is managed by the Public Association "Anti-Crisis Community Center", whose founder is the politician from the Gagauz autonomy Victor Petrov. |
|---|---|
| Individual Owner |
Media Companies / Groups
Facts
| Founding Year | Missing data |
|---|---|
| Founder | Victor Petrov Victor Petrov, founder of the Public Association "Community Anticrisis Center," served as a Member of Parliament in the People's Assembly of Gagauzia until 2023. He currently serves as vice president of the Executive Committee of Gagauzia under Evghenia Guțul, who has ties to oligarch Ilan Șor. Șor, sentenced for bank fraud, is currently a fugitive in Moscow. |
| Contact | 27 Tretiacova str. MD-3805 Comrat municipality Moldova, Republic of nashmoldova@gmail.com +373 782 22 982 nash.md |
| Revenue | Missing Data |
|---|---|
| Operating Profit | Missing Data |
| Advertising (in % of total funding) | Missing Data |
| Market Share | Missing Data |
| Headlines |
| |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Data | Following the directive of Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service, the portal gagauznews.md was blocked in Moldova on February 26, 2022, shortly after Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, as it was promoting and justifying the war. However, the portal changed its extension from .md to .com and continues to operate, promoting a pro-Kremlin editorial policy and favorable coverage of oligarch Ilan Shor, who was sentenced to prison in Moldova but is currently in Moscow. Gagauznews.com does not publish information about its editorial office location, staff members, or editorial management. Published materials are not signed with authors' names. The Public Association "Anti-Crisis Community Center," which owns gagauznews.com, has not responded to the MOM team’s information request. | |
| Sources | ||
| Documents (PDF) |