Abkhazian Network News Agency

History

ANNA was officially registered as mass media in the Republic of Abkhazia on 18 July 2011. It was founded and is led by Marat Musin, a specialist in financial intelligence who lectures at Moscow State University and teaches at the Russian State University of Trade and Economics.

ANNA publishes news in the Russian language and it is known for sending war reporters to places like Syria, where they filmed with Syrian Arab Army and took part in their operations against rebels. It has been known for publishing footage recorded directly from Syrian Army tanks. According to The Moscow Times, it has a 'forceful pro-Assad slant.' It has also its channel on YouTube, which as of May 2014 had over 30 million views. In January 2013, a Russian judge from Belgorod, Sergey Aleksandrovich Berezhnoy, was shot in the face and arm while accompanying the crew of ANNA News as it reported on a unit of the Syrian Army fighting rebel forces in the Damascus suburb of Darayya. In November 2013, ANNA News driver was killed by an enemy sniper while they were passing by Harasta city north-east of Damascus. More recently, it has done reports about the Ukrainian crisis, including live video reports.

In April 2016, ANNA website was defaced by the group of Ukrainian hackers Falcon Flame & Trinity.