Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that guests on Channel One political programs were paid fees for appearing on air. The outlet cited bank statements from Teleprofil, the company producing the shows “Big Game” and “Antifake.” The documents cover the period from early 2024 to September 2025.
According to the publication, one of the paid participants was former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl. From August 2024 to April 2025, she appeared six times on “Big Game” and allegedly received 1.2 million rubles in total, or 200,000 rubles per appearance.
Kneissl, who previously headed Austria’s foreign ministry with the backing of the Freedom Party of Austria, has publicly supported Vladimir Putin in recent years. In 2018, Putin attended her wedding in Austria. After leaving office, she worked with RT, joined the board of Rosneft, and in 2023 said she had moved to Russia.
“It is clear to me that the warmongers are the politicians in Brussels,” Kneissl said in one episode of “Big Game,” criticizing EU policy.
The article says Kneissl also has another source of income linked to the Russian state: since 2023 she has headed the G.O.R.K.I. center at St. Petersburg State University. By the outlet’s calculation, she was paid more than 22 million rubles there over 29 months.
The report also names other foreign guests. Former Ukrainian blogger Yury Podolyaka, according to a leak, received 18 million rubles in 2022 for “Big Game” battlefield updates. Former Hamburg lawmaker Olga Petersen, who appeared on “Antifake,” received 70,000 rubles from Teleprofil, while former European Parliament member Andrey Mamykin received 50,000 rubles for a comment.
Media experts interviewed by the outlet said one-off payments in broadcasting do occur, but regular fees for recurring political commentators, especially within state propaganda programming, are unusual and should be assessed in a broader political context.