From the Republics (FtR) is an Indigenous-led, independent media outlet covering Russia’s ethnic republics and Indigenous territories. Through investigations, explainers, analysis, and opinion pieces, FtR spotlights discrimination, restrictions on language and cultural rights, persecution of Indigenous activists and resistance. During the New Media Incubator, they aimed to grow their audience and prototype workflows to produce compelling, accurate content with remote audience collaboration.
Navigating audience growth under repression
Launched in 2024, FtR was created in response to the near absence of independent journalism by Indigenous and minority peoples from Russia due to censorship and repression. FtR’s core readership remains inside Russia and consists mainly of Indigenous and minoritised communities, particularly from the republics of Bashkortostan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Sakha, Tatarstan, Chechnya, and Kalmykia. FtR’s primary distribution channels are Instagram and Telegram, while the website serves as a platform for long-form stories.
Operating in a very repressive environment, FtR realised that the authenticity of content, perspective and language are key prerequisites for making their audience feel comfortable to engage. By analysing the performance of different contents and formats, they have been able to decipher what does well with different geographic, ethnic and ideological audience segments, and how to balance different content to diversify audience bases.
Engagement patterns are unique to the political context: Users living inside Russia tend not to publicly subscribe to FtR’s content, likely reflecting safety concerns. Despite this, FtR’s reach has significantly increased during the Incubator: The team achieved more than one viral publication per month during their first year of Instagram presence, with monthly viewership on Instagram nearly doubling in 2026. In March 2026 alone, FtR’s Instagram content generated more than 340,000 views, with 91% of that reach coming from non-followers.
Trust and co-creation as unique selling points
Beyond publishing, FtR grew into a platform for participation and professional development. Indigenous contributors work closely with experienced editors and gain practical journalism experience while reporting on issues affecting their own communities. Readers regularly suggest story ideas and, with editorial support and training, contribute their own reporting. This reflects existing demand for information but also for spaces where Indigenous voices can be published and heard. This level of co-creation and community building is based on a deep trust between the media and its audience – a unique and valuable asset in a media market with only a few indigenous-led outlets.
With IPI’s support, one member of the team was able to begin working part-time on FtR, significantly increasing the outlet’s capacity to publish more consistently and expand high-quality coverage. As next steps, the FtR team plans to scale their project and replicate their successes, as well as explore monetisation avenues through grants and reader revenue by English-speaking audiences.
“Beyond financial support, IPI’s New Media Incubator strengthened FtR’s strategic direction – the programme helped us identify priorities and concentrate resources on products that had already demonstrated strong audience demand”
The New Media Incubator is part of the Media Innovation Europe programme (MIE), made possible with the support of the European Union.
