The broadcast began January 1, 2007 in Russia, February 7 - on the West Coast of the United States, May 19, 2008 - in Serbia, October 9, 2008 - in Kyrgyzstan. VGTRK Crimea started broadcasting on March 10, 2014, eight days before the Russian annexation of Crimea.
The editor-in-chief of the channel is Evgeny Bekasov (since 2012).
The channel aspires to give a broad and impartial [2] outline of life in all of Russia’s regions from its European enclave of Kaliningrad to Vladivostok in the Far East. However, it is accused by Western countries as being a bullhorn for Russian state propaganda[3].
The channel was named Vesti until 1 January 2010, when the public-owned VGTRK rebranded its channels.
