By Ekaterina Janashia | 2025-12-15

Inside a recent closed-door meeting in Moscow, editors from Russia's largest state-run outlets were handed a script: portray the country's tax hikes as a Western-inflicted necessity, reassure audiences that "nothing matters more than security," and never connect the increases to President Vladimir Putin. The instructions laid bare how tightly the Kremlin was steering coverage of one of its most unpopular economic moves in years.

Russia's sweeping fiscal overhaul includes raising the Value-Added Tax (VAT) from 20% to 22% and revising corporate and personal income taxes to help close a budget deficit driven by military and security spending. The VAT hike, the most politically sensitive measure, is set to take effect next year.

According to the Financial Times, senior officials and state media representatives met repeatedly to align messaging on the changes. The guidance emphasized that any narrative surrounding the new taxes must deflect blame outward and preserve the president's political distance from the issue.

Blame and security

A document reviewed by the FT told journalists to present the increases as a forced response to "hostile actions by the West," which was said to be "not interested in a peaceful settlement" in Ukraine. Outlets were instructed to link Russia's fiscal strain to Western defense budgets and rising security threats.

Editors received recommended phrasing, including "Your money or your life?" and the claim that "nothing matters more than security," language meant to depict higher personal costs as essential for national survival. The guidelines urged media to underscore "real danger from the West and Ukraine" and to frame expanded defense spending as unavoidable.

One directive stood out: avoid mentioning Putin by name in stories about the tax hikes. The omission was meant to shield him from association with measures that contradict earlier pledges not to raise taxes.

To ease public anxiety, outlets were advised to argue that a "small increase in taxes" was preferable to cuts in social programs. State media were told to highlight claims that the new revenue would protect benefits, support families and fund new schools and hospitals.

Although officials insisted the changes would have only a "minimal" effect on inflation, independent economists warned that the VAT increase would likely push consumer prices higher.

For businesses, the Kremlin supplied a softer label for the tax changes: describe them as the "end of the preferential period," implying that temporary wartime incentives had simply run their course. The wording allowed officials to deny they were imposing new burdens.

'…it's gotten worse'

Vladimir, 48, who worked for more than 15 years in major government-controlled media and left Russia three years ago, told Kontur the directives resembled the system he had known for much of his career. He described the Kremlin's approach as the "notorious 'Putin's stability."

Vladimir said the Putin administration routinely sent detailed instructions telling newsrooms exactly how to cover events, down to tone and vocabulary.

"I don't think the practice has changed, except perhaps it's gotten worse," he said. "In their view, that is the work with media."

Vladimir said he was consistently struck by the low quality of the guidance, describing it as "mediocre," filled with phrases and concepts that seemed "plagiarized from a search engine," written by "C-students without imagination, too lazy to work."

He viewed the current messaging around the tax overhaul, especially the VAT hike, as an attempt to "sweeten the pill." But he argued that no narrative could conceal the real economic impact.

"You don't have to be a prominent economist to foresee the blow to Russians' pockets when all producers and traders begin to raise prices, offsetting their costs," he said.

Vladimir criticized state media for urging citizens to accept higher prices as patriotic sacrifice, saying they would argue that people "should pay more, but at least they will have a 'peaceful sky above their heads'." He rejected the logic, citing ongoing drone strikes and "the coffins that are coming to Russia from Ukraine."

Vladimir questioned how ordinary Russians, especially the elderly, could embrace such reasoning.

"Does any pensioner, when they hand over their last pennies for costlier products, think: 'How well they did to raise the VAT! After all, it contributes to the sustainability and defense capabilities of our country'? No, they think: 'Be all of you cursed, you scum'!"

He said "this muted discontent is steadily growing."

While acknowledging the state's capacity to silence critics, he warned that the strategy was not limitless.

"However, this situation cannot be sustained indefinitely. When, inevitably, a social explosion occurs, no prescribed narratives or formulas handed down from the Kremlin will provide any solution."