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One of the world's largest satellite operators, the French-British company Eutelsat, continues to air Russian propaganda and military recruitment advertisements, international NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) disclosed to The Insider. RSF had previously pursued legal action against the regulator responsible for approving these broadcasts.
RSF notes that Eutelsat owns the critical satellite 36D, which covers about 30% of households in Russia and countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), such as Belarus and Kazakhstan. Using this satellite, Russian authorities broadcast hundreds of Kremlin-backed channels on two Russian paid television platforms — Tricolor and NTV-Plus.
Although public outcry previously forced Eutelsat to remove channels sanctioned by the EU, the remaining channels continue to broadcast Kremlin propaganda and military advertisements. The French-British company has also disregarded Ukrainian sanctions, which target the NTV-Plus platform and 16 other Russian channels. The satellite’s coverage extends over Ukraine and its occupied territories, meaning the European company is facilitating the transmission of Kremlin narratives in areas where Russia is actively engaged in aggressive warfare. The screenshots below, taken by RSF on Dec. 18, show content broadcast within Eutelsat’s coverage zone.
According to RSF, Eutelsat refuses to open 36D to broadcast alternative channels, including those from RSF’s Svoboda Satellite project, which spreads anti-war information. Currently, Svoboda Satellite is being broadcast through another Eutelsat satellite — Hotbird 13E. However, as project leader Jim Phillipoff told The Insider, Hotbird’s reach is only one-third the size of 36D. Phillipoff explained:
“Eutelsat still has not agreed to open 36D to other, alternative channels, including our own channels from the Svoboda Satellite project. If they were to do this, 30% of the Russian population would have easy access to alternative programming. Yet they continue to refuse any requests for access to this important satellite position.”
In mid-December of this year, the Financial Times reported that Europe would launch the IRIS² satellite network in a bid to rival Elon Musk's Starlink. The project has been granted a record budget of €10.6 billion, with most of the funding provided by the EU. Eutelsat will also participate as an investor, securing access to the network's broadcasting capabilities.
“Of course, it is very disappointing that a big supporter of Russian propaganda, who does not offer traditional European fairness on its Russian satellite, is receiving so much funding from the EU. The IRIS project should probably carefully review its support of the Eutelsat in this context,” Phillipoff said.
France was previously the largest shareholder in Eutelsat, but in September 2023, the company merged with British satellite operator OneWeb, which owned more than 600 low-earth orbit satellites. The merger led to the creation of the holding company Eutelsat Group, with subsidiaries Eutelsat and Eutelsat OneWeb, headquartered in Paris and London. Major shareholders now include India's Bharti Enterprises Ltd., three French firms, the UK government, and British investment firm SB Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd. Minority stakeholders include entities from Japan, the United States, China, and Australia.