Dr Ilya Yablokov

Ilya joined Sheffield in July 2021 as Lecturer in Journalism and Digital Media after working for six years at the University of Leeds (Russian and East European Studies). Ilya’s sphere of research interests includes (but is not limited to) dis/misinformation, conspiracy theories, international broadcasting and political communication as well as journalistic practices in the post-socialist countries. His most recent projects focus on the production and dissemination or Russian state disinformation campaigns via the so-called ‘troll factories’ (Russian Internet Agency).

Ilya’s recent book Russia Today and Conspiracy Theories: People, Power, Politics on RT (with Precious Chatterje-Doody) explores how Russian international broadcaster uses traditional and new media environments to spread disinformation on subnational, national and international levels. This work was spawned by Ilya’s previous research into conspiracy theories in Russia. His monograph Fortress Russia: conspiracy theories in the post-Soviet world (Polity 2018) studied how political elites in post-Soviet Russia use conspiracy theories for political purposes.