PUSHKOVA Daria Alekseyevna

A russian journalist, she has headed the Italian branch of the federal agency "rossotrudnichestvo"—the "russian house" in Rome—since June 2019. She is the daughter of russian Senator, former state duma deputy, and television host Alexei Pushkov. She previously worked as a journalist for the russian state television channel RT, and since 2015, she has worked at the All-russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), where she produced segments for TV host Dmitry Kiselyov. In June 2022, the Italian analytical project Decode39 included Pushkova on a list of russian representatives who, following the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, participated in Italian television debates and promoted the kremlin’s position.
On March 14, 2026, in collaboration with the russian embassy in Italy, she opened the Second Conference of "russia–Italy" Friendship Associations in Rome, titled "Crimea: History and the Present," timed to coincide with the 12th anniversary of the temporary occupation of Crimea. As part of the conference, an exhibition by russian artist Oleg Putnin titled "The Lavender Sea," dedicated to Crimea after 2014, was presented, and an RT documentary titled "Crimea: Rebirth" was screened, which promoted claims of allegedly positive changes on the peninsula following its temporary occupation by the russian federation. In her speech, Pushkova quoted one of the conference participants, who called Crimea a bridge between East and West and a space for developing cooperation between russia and Italy. During the event, russian ambassador to Italy Alexei Paramonov spread claims about an alleged coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014, accused the Ukrainian government of starting the war in Donbas, and justified the russian invasion as necessary to protect the population.
In February 2026, the "russian house" in Rome, headed by Pushkova, announced an exhibition titled "The Mariupol Theater: A Story of Rebirth," dedicated to the reconstruction of the drama theater in the temporarily occupied city of Mariupol. The exhibition was organized by the russian publication "New Regions of russia."
On July 26, 2026, Pushkova took part in an event during which accusations were leveled against Ukraine regarding the alleged deliberate killing of children in Donbas. The event took place at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome and was timed to coincide with the "Day of Remembrance for Children—Victims of the War in Donbas," established by the russian occupation authorities. It was organized by the russian embassy in Italy, "russian house," and the Italian association Aiutateci a Salvare i Bambini. An announcement on the "russian house"’s official websites claimed that the war in Donbas in 2014 was allegedly unleashed by the "Kyiv terrorist regime" against its own civilian population. During the ceremony, russian ambassador Paramonov accused Ukraine of causing the deaths of 369 children and wounding more than 4,000 minors. After the service, an exhibition titled "Under the Sky of War: Drawings by Children of Donbas" was presented, and video footage about the deceased children was shown. The event was accompanied by the spread of anti-Ukrainian narratives aimed at shifting the blame for the consequences of the war onto Ukraine.
In May 2025, Pushkova joined a russian cultural project related to the temporarily occupied city of Mariupol. According to open sources, she facilitated the transfer of a collection of works by Italian artists Enzo and Peppe Rosamilla to the Mariupol Local History Museum, which is under the control of the russian occupation administration. On May 23, 2025, a corresponding agreement was signed in Moscow with the support of the russian ministry of culture. The transfer took place as part of the russian project "New Art in New Museums," aimed at expanding museum collections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which the russian federation refers to as its "new regions."
On September 4, 2025, Pushkova opened an event at the "russian house" in Rome dedicated to combating alleged "russophobia" in Italy. In her speech, she criticized the cancellation of a concert by russian conductor Valery Gergiev in Caserta, linking this decision to the "aggressive rhetoric" of the Italian media. During the event, there was a presentation of the book "De russofobia" by journalist Vincenzo Lorusso, the author of the Telegram channel "Donbass Italia", which operates from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
The foreword to the book was written by Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the russian ministry of foreign affairs. The publication contains claims of alleged systemic discrimination against russians, censorship of russian media, and the suppression of alternative views on the war against Ukraine. An RT documentary titled "russophobia: A History of Hate," dedicated to a similar topic, was also screened.