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Pravda (Russian: Правда, "Truth") is a Russian newspaper, formerly the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It is notable for having been a tool for agitating the working masses in support of the Russian Revolution.
The newspaper began publication on 5 May 1912 in the Russian Empire, but was already extant abroad in January 1911.[1][2]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union Pravda was sold off by Russian President Boris Yeltsin to a Greek business family in 1996, and the paper came under the control of their private company Pravda International.[3]
In 1996, there was an internal dispute between the owners of Pravda International and some of the Pravda journalists which led to Pravda splitting into different entities. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation acquired the Pravda paper, while some of the original Pravda journalists separated to form Russia's first online paper (and the first online English paper) Pravda.ru, which is not connected to the Communist Party.[4] After a legal dispute between the rival parties, the Russian court of arbitration stipulated that both entities would be allowed to continue using the Pravda name.[5]
The Pravda paper is today run by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, whereas the online Pravda.ru is privately owned and has international editions published in Russian, English, French and Portuguese.