PRIMAKOV Yevgeny Alexandrovich

A russian journalist, government official, and politician who headed the federal agency "rossotrudnichestvo" from 2020 to 2026. He previously served as a state duma deputy for the "United russia" party and as putin's authorized representative in the 2018 presidential election.
After resigning on April 27, 2026, he assumed the position of senior advisor at the "Eurasia" ANO and continued his media work, particularly on Sputnik Radio.
As part of his work as an advisor to the "Eurasia" ANO, he serves as a leading expert on international relations, regularly conducts workshops for students, moderates discussion forums, and participates in specialized media projects and podcasts, where he analyzes the geopolitical agenda.
In addition, he works closely with the federal agency "rossotrudnichestvo," particularly on issues related to russian elections in the context of foreign policy.
He is a member of the presidium of the russian public association "Council on Foreign and Defense Policy," which promotes the development and implementation of strategic concepts for russia’s development, as well as its foreign and defense policies; one of its many projects is the Valdai international discussion club.
On April 7, 2026, he publicly confirmed rossotrudnichestvo’s support for the russian invasion of Ukraine. In his statement announcing his resignation, he noted that the agency is subject to EU sanctions due to its "unreserved support for russia’s foreign policy and the special military operation." According to Primakov, due to international restrictions, some of the overseas "russian houses" were closed or suspended, but during his tenure, the agency opened more than 20 partner offices and expanded its presence in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
On his Telegram channel, Primakov systematically spread accusations against Ukraine and its military and political leadership. In particular, on April 26, 2023, commenting on the arson attack on the "russian house" building in Nicosia, Cyprus, he claimed—without providing any evidence—that the attackers, in his opinion, were supporters of the Ukrainian government, most likely Ukrainians. At the same time, he drew a parallel with the events of May 2, 2014, in Odesa, exploiting the tragedy to level accusations against Ukrainians.
On September 29, 2023, Primakov spoke out in support of the criminal prosecution of a Kazakhstani citizen against whom a case had been opened for participating in hostilities on the side of Ukraine. He called it an allied duty to assist in "dealing with various kinds of criminals who have sided with the Kyiv nazi regime."
On November 10, 2023, Primakov called on Ukrainians to resist mobilization into the Ukrainian Defense Forces. In his post, he claimed that the war had allegedly been started by "Nazis and thieves in Kyiv," shifting the blame for russian aggression onto the Ukrainian leadership. The post was intended to discredit Ukraine’s mobilization policy and spread the narrative that the Ukrainian government’s actions were allegedly illegitimate.
On February 28, 2025, Primakov accused the Ukrainian leadership of allegedly seeking to organize "bloody provocations" resulting in mass civilian casualties, for which russia would supposedly be held responsible.
On September 3, 2026, he published an op-ed for RT titled "Property as a Weapon," in which he proposed using the property of foreign states to finance russian armaments. Commenting on the closure of the "russian house" in Berlin and the corresponding restrictions on German cultural institutions in russia, he called for treating the state assets of countries he termed "hostile" as a potential source of funding for the production of russian drones, shells, ammunition, missiles, tanks, and aircraft.
In July 2025, in an interview with RBC, Primakov admitted to using the agency he heads to deliberately spread provocative claims about Ukrainian history and culture. According to him, on the eve of the closure of the "rossotrudnichestvo" office in Kyiv, the agency organized an event marking the anniversary of Taras Shevchenko’s death, during which he was presented as a russian writer. Primakov claimed that Shevchenko allegedly wrote all his works in russian, but admitted that such a statement was intended to provoke the Ukrainian audience.
In April 2025, Primakov spoke of the need to engage with Ukrainian citizens who had emigrated to European countries. In particular, in an interview with the publication "Soyuznoe veche," he emphasized the importance of maintaining contact, through russian cultural centers abroad, with Ukrainians who are critical of the current Ukrainian government. According to Primakov, some Ukrainian citizens attend events at "russian houses," use their libraries, and bring their children to classes.
Additionally, while heading "rossotrudnichestvo," Primakov supported information campaigns aimed at portraying russian military personnel as defenders of the Ukrainian population. In particular, on November 3, 2023, he promoted a trip by Serbian blogger Milan Janković to russian military positions in the Donetsk region and announced the screening of a documentary film about this trip at the "russian house" in Belgrade.
In November 2024, Primakov received the "10 Years of Crimea’s reunification with russia" medal from the russian occupation administration of temporarily occupied Crimea. The award ceremony took place during the Yalta International Forum in Moscow, organized with the participation of russian government officials.
In January 2026, Primakov announced that rossotrudnichestvo was collaborating with entities linked to a russian private military company that had previously established "russian houses" in Mali and the Central African Republic. In an interview with the Vedomosti, he stated that several employees of that organization had moved to work for "rossotrudnichestvo".