Russia has launched a state-of-the-art media organization with hundreds of journalists abroad intended to wean the world off what it called aggressive Western propaganda, naming the company after the Cold War-era satellite Sputnik.
In a hi-tech presentation in a media center once used to host Soviet press conferences, one of President Vladimir Putin's favorite journalists outlined plans meant to repair the damage done to Russia's image from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Although Moscow denies reverting to Soviet-style techniques, Russian media executives acknowledge privately they are waging a propaganda war with echoes of the Cold War.