One of Russia’s most successful animation brands has become the epicenter of a major legal scandal. The company “Masha and the Bear” (owned by Animaccord studio) has initiated legal proceedings against its former employee and the series’ original creator, Oleg Kuzovkov.
The 2026 May holidays failed to deliver the box office breakthrough that Russian cinemas had hoped for. According to the Cinema Fund’s Unified Federal Automated Information System (UAIS), total revenues for the period from April 30 to May 11 amounted to just over 1 billion rubles (536.4 million rubles during the first wave of holidays and 530.6 million rubles during the second).
Rostelecom has released its IFRS financial results for the first quarter of 2026. Against the backdrop of a 10% increase in total group revenue (to 208.9 billion rubles) and a 10% rise in net profit (to 7.4 billion rubles), the company’s media business emerged as a significant growth driver.
Gosfilmofond of Russia is set to consolidate its fragmented web resources into a single Unified Technological Online Platform (UTOP). A budget of 242.5 million rubles has been allocated for the development of this large-scale system, with auction bids accepted through May 18.
Art Pictures Distribution (part of National Media Group, or NMG) has announced its participation in the Marché du Film, set to take place in Cannes from May 12 to 20, 2026. The Russian distributor is bringing a slate of flagship projects to the French Riviera, specifically tailored for a global audience.
The Russian firm F6 has released its report on the most popular films and television series on pirated platforms for April 2026. The study is based on the volume of illegal copies available across torrent trackers and unauthorized streaming sites within the Russian segment of the internet (Runet).
According to data from J’son and Partners Consulting, the market share of Russian and Belarusian brands has surged from 10.8% to 17.4% over the past two years. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, sales grew by another 10%, reaching the 2 million unit milestone.
The Institute for Internet Development (IRI) has announced the results of two major competitions: one for AI-generated “neuro-content” and another for youth-oriented projects within the blogosphere.
The Russian Government has approved new licensing regulations for television channels and radio stations. Starting September 1, 2026, the procedure will become significantly faster and transition entirely to an electronic format.
According to a report from TMT Consulting, the Russian pay TV market made an unexpected comeback in 2025. Following two years of decline, the subscriber base rose to 46.7 million, while revenue climbed by 4.6%, reaching 112.9 billion RUB.
