{{Short description|Moscow-based online newspaper in Russian language}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox website |name = Lenta.ru |logo = Lenta.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert |url = {{URL|http://lenta.ru/}} |commercial = Yes |type = Online newspaper |language = Russian |registration = Free/Subscription |owner = Rambler Media Group (subsidiary of Sberbank) |author = Anton Nossik |launch_date = {{Start date and age|1999|09|18}} |current_status = Active }}
'''''Lenta.ru''''' ({{langx|ru|Лента.Ру}}; stylised as '''LƐNTA.RU''') is a Russian-language online newspaper. Based in Moscow, it is owned by Rambler Media Group. In 2013, the Alexander Mamut-owned companies "SUP Media" and "Rambler-Afisha" merged to form "Afisha.Rambler.SUP", which owns Lenta.ru.<ref name=BBC20140312>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26543464 |title=Russia Lenta.ru editor Timchenko fired in Ukraine row |work=BBC |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> In 2012, the online newspaper was one of the most popular Russian language online resources with over 600 thousand visitors daily.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://top100.rambler.ru/resStats/80674/?_page=2|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719042540/http://top100.rambler.ru/resStats/80674/?_page=2| url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2012|title=Rambler's Top 100 usage statistics for Lenta.Ru|publisher=Rambler|date=20 October 2008|access-date=21 October 2008}}</ref>
In March 2014, Lenta.ru underwent a change of leadership following politically motivated interference by its owner. Editor-in-chief Galina Timchenko and 39 staff members left the outlet and later founded a newspaper Meduza, in November of the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-09-15 |title=Галина Тимченко: «Никто из нас не мечтает делать «Колокол» |url=https://www.forbes.ru/kompanii/internet-telekom-i-media/267611-galina-timchenko-nikto-iz-nas-ne-mechtaet-delat-kolokol |access-date=2025-10-14 |website=Forbes.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-01-28 |title=Российская аудитория сайта Meduza.io достигла 1,3 млн человек в месяц |url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/54c8df9b9a79475405e79f87 |access-date=2025-10-14 |website=РБК |language=ru}}</ref>
== History == In 1999 Anton Nosik launched Lenta.ru together with Gleb Pavlovsky<ref>ISBN 978-5-17-086970-1</ref><ref>ISBN 978-5-17-132827-6</ref> of the Foundation for Effective Politics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Фото: Два года без Антона Носика|url=https://www.gazeta.ru/tech/photo/anton-nosik-anniversary.shtml|access-date=2020-07-27| website=Газета.Ru|date=9 July 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> It was (like vesti.ru) a sister e-news project under the brand Gazeta.Ru.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Goscilo |first1=Helena| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMYtCgAAQBAJ&q=lenta+ru+gazeta+ru+one+brand+1999&pg=PA158|title=Celebrity and Glamour in Contemporary Russia: Shocking Chic|last2=Strukov|first2=Vlad|date=2010-10-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-92435-4|language=en}}</ref> Nosik served as its chief editor till 2004.<ref name=":0" />
A Berkman Center 2010 study found it to be the most cited news source in the Russian blogosphere.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2010/Public_Discourse_Russian_Blogosphere|title=Public Discourse in the Russian Blogosphere: Mapping RuNet Politics and Mobilization| publisher=Berkman Center for Internet & Society|date=18 October 2010 |access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref>
In 2013, Alexander Mamut through his ownership of the Afisha-Rambler-SUP Group acquired Lenta.ru.<ref name=BBC20140312/>
In 2013, Lenta.ru was ranked by comScore-study the 5th in terms of traffic among European news websites (in all languages).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-25|title=Сайт РИА Новости вошел в двадцатку самых посещаемых сайтов в Европе|url=https://ria.ru/20130625/945627540.html|access-date=2020-07-28|website=РИА Новости|language=ru}}</ref>
In January 2013, the website was relaunched with a new design and significant changes to the rubricating system. This was the most serious update of the site since 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lenta.ru обновила дизайн без "Студии Лебедева"|url=https://rg.ru/2013/01/21/lenta-site-anons.html |author=Антон Благовещенский |access-date=2020-07-28|website=Российская газета|date=21 January 2013 |language=ru}}</ref>
In 2020, Mamut sold Rambler to Sberbank.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://meduza.io/feature/2021/03/04/chelovek-bez-kostey |trans-title=A man without bones Meduza special correspondent Anastasia Yakoreva tells how an excellent lawyer and successful negotiator Alexander Mamut broke down in the media business |title=Человек без костей Спецкор «Медузы» Анастасия Якорева рассказывает, как отличный юрист и удачливый переговорщик Александр Мамут сломался на медийном бизнесе |author1=Анастасия Якорева |author2=Татьяна Лысова |work=Meduza |date=3 March 2021 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref>
===Replacement of the leadership and staff in 2014=== Following a March 10, 2014, Lenta.ru interview by Ilya Azar{{efn|{{langx|ru|Илья Вильямович Азар}} {{langx|uk|Ілля Вільямович Азар}}}} of {{Interlanguage link|Andriy Tarasenko|uk|Тарасенко Андрій Іванович}}{{efn|{{langx|ru|Андрей Иванович Тарасенко}} {{langx|uk|Андрій Іванович Тарасенко}}}} from the Right Sector's Kyiv branch,<ref name=Azar10032014>{{cite news |url=http://lentka.com/a/537619/ |title="Мы — не вооруженные силы": Интервью с одним из лидеров украинского "Правого сектора" |trans-title="We — are not armed forces": Interview with one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Right Sector |work=Lentka.com |last=Азар |first=Илья (Azar, Ilya) |location=Kyiv |date=10 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110224154/http://lentka.com/a/537619/ |language=ru}}</ref> Russian censorship organization Roskomnadzor accused Lenta.ru of violating Russian media censorship and "counter-extremism" laws.<ref name=Roskomnadzor12032014>{{cite news |url=https://rkn.gov.ru/news/rsoc/news24418.htm |title=Роскомнадзор вынес предупреждение электронному периодическому изданию "Лента.ру" за распространение материалов экстремистского характер |trans-title=Roskomnadzor issued a warning to the electronic periodical Lenta.ru for distributing extremist materials |work=Roskomnadzor |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-date=15 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315075700/https://rkn.gov.ru/news/rsoc/news24418.htm |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=Azar10032014/><ref name=UkrayinskaPravda01032014>{{cite news |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/03/1/7016808/ |title=Правый сектор объявил срочную мобилизацию и вооружение |trans-title=Right Sector Announces Urgent Mobilization and Armament |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |date=1 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308080842/https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/03/1/7016808/ |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=RIA12032014>{{cite news |url=https://ria.ru/20140312/999211924.html |title=Коллектив Ленты.ру не согласен со сменой главного редактора: В опубликованном коллективом письме, подписи под которым поставили 70 сотрудников редакции, журналисты назвали смену главного редактора прямым давлением на редакцию "Ленты.ру" и нарушением закона о СМИ. |trans-title=The Lenta.ru team does not agree with the change of the editor-in-chief: In a letter published by the team signed by 70 editorial staff, the journalists called the change of the editor-in-chief a direct pressure on the Lenta.ru editorial office and a violation of the media law. |work=RIA Novosti |location=Moscow |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110222401/https://ria.ru/20140312/999211924.html |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=EchoMoscow12032014>{{cite news |url=https://echo.msk.ru/news/1277372-echo.html |title="Лента.ру" получила предупреждение от Роскомнадзора за интервью с одним из лидеров "Правого сектора" |trans-title=Lenta.ru received a warning from Roskomnadzor for an interview with one of the leaders of the Right Sector |work=Echo Moscow |location=Moscow |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-date=12 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312225225/https://echo.msk.ru/news/1277372-echo.html |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=SvobodnayaPress12032014>{{cite news |url=https://svpressa.ru/all/news/83595/ |title=Роскомнадзор предупредил "Ленту.ру" за экстремистское интервью |trans-title=Roskomnadzor warned Lenta.ru for extremist interviews |work=Свободная Пресса (Svobodnaya Press) |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=10 January 2020 |language=ru}}</ref>{{efn|On March 5, 2014, Dmytro Yarosh received Basmanny Justice ({{langx|ru|Басманное Правосудие}}) and was charged in absentia by Moscow's Basmanny court for his actions.<ref name=EchoMoscow12032014/><ref name=SvobodnayaPress12032014/>}} Since the warning by Roskomnadzor was the second issued in a 12-month period, Roskomnadzor could ask the courts to terminate Lenta.ru's mass media license.<ref name=Roskomnadzor12032014/><ref name=EchoMoscow12032014/> Both the BBC and ''The Economist'' called Russian state response to the publications by Lenta.ru a censorship.<ref name=BBC20140312/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2014/03/14/we-have-ways-of-making-you-talk |title=We have ways of making you talk: Russia's stranglehold on journalists has become rather plain lately |newspaper=The Economist |date=14 March 2014 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref>
On March 12, 2014 the owner, Alexander Mamut, fired the Editor-in-Chief Galina Timchenko and replaced her with Alexey Goreslavsky. Thirty-nine employees out of the total 84, including Director-general Yuliya Minder, lost their jobs. This includes 32 writing journalists, all photo-editors (5 people) and 6 administrators.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 2014 |title=В Lenta.ru сменился гендиректор и уволились 39 сотрудников |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/13/03/2014/570419499a794761c0ce7d19 |access-date=11 March 2019 |language=ru |agency=RBK Group}}</ref> The employees of ''Lenta.ru'' issued a statement that the purpose of the move was to install a new Editor-in-Chief directly controlled by the Kremlin and turn the website into a propaganda tool.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lenta.ru/info/posts/statement/|script-title=ru:Дорогим читателям от дорогой редакции|trans-title=To dear readers from a dear publisher|quote=See invisible text, also talk page<!--Dear Readers! Today, March 12, the owner of Afisha-Rambler-SUP, Alexander Mamut, fired Galina Timchenko, editor-in-chief of Lenta.ru. Alexey Goreslavsky, Deputy General Director for External Communications, has been appointed the new editor-in-chief. Unfortunately, this is not a standard castling, so some clarification is required. We believe that this appointment is direct pressure on the editorial board of Lenta.ru. The dismissal of the independent editor-in-chief and the appointment of a person managed, including directly from the Kremlin offices, is already a violation of the law on the media, which speaks of the inadmissibility of censorship. Over the past couple of years, the space for free journalism in Russia has diminished dramatically. Some publications are directly controlled from the Kremlin, others through curators, and still others by editors who are afraid of losing their jobs. Some media outlets have closed, others will close in the coming months. The trouble is not that we have nowhere to work. The trouble is, you don't seem to have anything else to read. We certainly assumed that they would come for us. We believe that this is not forever. In any case, you, dear readers, should be aware of this. We hope to see you soon. Your dear editorial staff. Дорогие читатели! Сегодня, 12 марта, собственник компании «Афиша-Рамблер-SUP» Александр Мамут уволил главного редактора «Ленты.ру» Галину Тимченко. Новым главным редактором назначен Алексей Гореславский — заместитель генерального директора по внешним коммуникациям. К сожалению, это не штатная рокировка, поэтому требуются некоторые пояснения. Мы считаем, что это назначение является прямым давлением на редакцию «Ленты.ру». Увольнение независимого главного редактора и назначение управляемого, в том числе напрямую из кремлевских кабинетов, человека — это уже нарушение закона о СМИ, говорящего о недопустимости цензуры. За последние пару лет пространство свободной журналистики в России драматически уменьши��ось. Одни издания напрямую управляются из Кремля, другие — через кураторов, третьи — редакторами, которые боятся потерять работу. Некоторые СМИ закрылись, иные закроются в ближайшие месяцы. Беда не в том, что нам негде работать. Беда в том, что вам, кажется, больше нечего читать. Мы, безусловно, предполагали, что придут и за нами. Мы верим, что это не навсегда. В любом случае вы, дорогие читатели, должны об этом знать. Надеемся, что до скорых встреч. Ваша дорогая редакция.-->|website=Lenta.ru|date=12 March 2014|language=ru|access-date=11 March 2019|title=Lenta.ru }}</ref> Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, referred to the move as a manifestation of censorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2014/03/12/russian-news-editor-fired-after-interviewing-ukrainian-nationalist/|title=Russian News Editor Fired Over Ukrainian Nationalist Interview|author=Olga Razumovskaya|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=12 March 2014|access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref>
Galina Timchenko, together with a team of around 20 journalists who resigned from their jobs at ''Lenta.ru'', started the new internet newspaper ''Meduza''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=I was 'fired' because of the Kremlin|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-47376712/galina-timchenko-i-was-fired-because-of-the-kremlin|access-date=2020-07-06|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="guardian-2014-10-23">{{cite news |last=Beard |first=Nadia |date=23 October 2014 |title=Russian journalists set up shop in Latvia after Kremlin crackdown |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/23/russian-journalists-meduza-project-latvia-kremlin-crackdown |access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref>
=== Coverage of 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine === On 9 May 2022, the Russian Victory Day, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lenta.ru briefly displayed information about the Russian war against Ukraine in a way that did not comply with government regulations or the enforced guidelines of Lenta.ru. Articles were published regarding the mass killing of civilians, looting, abandoned bodies of Russian troops, the destruction of Mariupol, censorship, governmental lies to relatives of deceased soldiers, attacks against the freedom of press, and more. Lenta.ru journalists Egor Polyakov and Alexandra Miroshnikova have stated that they were the authors of these articles, and reported that they now need new jobs, lawyers, and political asylum. The content was quickly removed, but can be found in Wayback Machine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 May 2022 |title=Lenta.ru briefly filled with anti-war, anti-Putin content Two employees claimed responsibility for the protest |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/05/09/lenta-ru-briefly-filled-with-anti-war-anti-putin-content |website=Meduza}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sauer |first=Pjotr |date=9 May 2022 |title='Paranoid dictator': Russian journalists fill pro-Kremlin site with anti-war articles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/09/russian-journalists-pro-kremlin-site-lenta-anti-war-articles |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
== Chief editors == * Anton Nosik (1999–2004) * Galina Timchenko (2004–2014) * Alexey Goreslavsky (2014–2016) * Alexander Belonovsky (2016–2017) * Vladimir Todorov (since 2017)<ref>{{Cite web|title=В Lenta.ru сменился главный редактор|url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/56b88b699a794730550ad701|access-date=2020-07-29|website=РБК|date=8 February 2016 |language=ru}}</ref>
==Management== *Director-general: Andrey Solomennik *Editor-in-Chief: Vladimir Todorov *Programmer: Maksim Moshkow<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lenta.ru/info/posts/people/|title=Кто делает Lenta.ru|publisher=Lenta.ru|date=20 November 2012|access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref> (until 2009)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lib.ru/~moshkow/|title=Maksim E. Moshkow|website=Lib.ru|access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref>
== Awards and recognitions == Lenta.ru has taken first place four times in the Rotor contest in the category "Information site of the year" and once, in 2000 in the category "News site of the year".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://regnum.ru/news/1004058.html|title=Подведены итоги ежегодного профессионального конкурса Российский Онлайн ТОР за 2008 год|trans-title=The results of the annual professional competition Russian Online TOP for 2008 have been summed up|language=ru|agency=REGNUM|date=2008-03-22|access-date=2020-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Професcионалы профессионалам: Подведены итоги конкурса РОТОР++ 2007|trans-title=Professionals for professionals: The results of the ROTOR++ 2007 competition have been announced|url=https://lenta.ru/articles/2007/12/14/potop/|access-date=2020-07-30|work=Lenta.ru}}</ref>
Maxim Moshkov has won the Rotor twice (in the categories "Programmer of the Year" in 1999 and "Man of the Year" in 2005).<ref>{{Cite news|title=Панорама высоких технологий. Объявлены результаты интернет-конкурса РОТОР 2005|trans-title=High technology panorama. The results of the Internet competition ROTOR 2005 are announced|url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/108765.html|date=2005-04-26|access-date=2020-07-30|work=Радио Свобода|language=ru}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://lenta.ru/}} {{in lang|ru}}
Category:Internet properties established in 1999 Category:News agencies based in Russia Category:Russian news websites Category:Mass media in Moscow Category:1999 establishments in Russia Category:Government-owned companies of Russia Category:Russian propaganda organizations Category:Conspiracist websites