1917–1991 ). During the Soviet period, while
Pravda served as the official mouthpiece of the
Communist Party,
Izvestia expressed the official views of the Soviet government as published by the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Chronology of names • 1917 • February: ''Izvestiya of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies'' • March–August: ''Izvestiya of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies'' • August–September: ''Izvestiya of the Central Executive Committee and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies'' • September–October: ''Izvestiya of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies'' • 1917–1918:
Izvestiya All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Peasants, Workers, Soldiers, and Cossack Deputies and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Red Army Deputies • 1918:
Bulletin of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Peasants, Workers, Soldiers, and Cossack Deputies and the Moscow Soviet of Workers and Red Army Deputies • 1918–1923:
Bulletin of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Moscow Soviet of Workers and Soldiers’ Deputies • 1923–1938:
Bulletin of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers, Peasants, Red Army and Cossack Deputies • 1938–1977:
Izvestia of the Soviets of Deputies of the Workers of the USSR • 1977–1991: ''Izvestia of the Soviets of People's Deputies of the USSR'' • since 1991:
Izvestia The
Izvestia Trophy ice hockey tournament was named after the newspaper between 1969 and 1996.
Nedelya was the weekend supplement of Izvestia.
1992–present Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union,
Izvestia now describes itself as a "national newspaper" of Russia. The newspaper was owned by a vast holding company of
Vladimir Potanin which had close ties with the government. A controlling stake in
Izvestia was purchased by state-owned
Gazprom on 3 June 2005, and included in the
Gazprom Media holding. According to the allegations of the
Committee to Protect Journalists, Raf Shakirov, editor-in-chief of
Izvestia, was forced to resign because the government officials did not like the paper's coverage of the
Beslan school hostage crisis. Other sources informed that Potanin had asked him to leave for fear the Kremlin would be riled by the explicit photographs of the massacre published by
Izvestia. As of 2005, the circulation of
Izvestia was 240,967. Its 2007 circulation certified by TNS Gallup Media was 371,000 copies. Until his death on 1 October 2008, the chief artist was
Boris Yefimov, the centenarian illustrator who had worked as
Joseph Stalin's political cartoonist. In 2008, Gazprom Media sold
Izvestia to
National Media Group. In May 2024, the
European Union accused the newspaper of spreading
propaganda and placed it on its sanctions list. ==See also==