How is Russian media covering Iraq ▾AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBrazilBulgariaCanadaChinaCroatiaCubaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEgyptEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIndiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJapanKazakhstanKosovoKyrgyzstanLatviaLibyaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMexicoMoldovaMongoliaMontenegroNetherlandsNew ZealandNorth KoreaNorth MacedoniaNorwayPakistanPalestinePolandPortugalRomaniaSaudi ArabiaSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanThailandTurkeyTurkmenistanUAEUkraineUnited KingdomUSAUzbekistanVenezuelaVietnamAfDAzovBRICSBundeswehrCIACISCSTOEurasian Economic UnionEuroclear / frozen assetsEuropean CommissionEuropean Court of Human RightsEuropean ParliamentEuropean UnionForeign MercenariesFSBG20G7HamasHezbollahHouthisIAEAIMFInternational Criminal CourtIOCLGBTMigrantsNATOOPEC+OSCEPentagonRussian OppositionRussian StateSBUSCOTalibanThe WestUkrainian ArmyUkrainian GovernmentUkrainian military intelligenceUkrainian PeopleUnited NationsUS CongressWADAAleksandar VucicAlexander LukashenkoAlexander StubbAli KhameneiAlice WeidelAndrei BelousovAndrej BabisAndrii SybihaAndriy YermakAntonio GuterresBenjamin NetanyahuBoris JohnsonBoris PistoriusDmitry MedvedevDmitry PeskovDonald TrumpDonald TuskElon MuskElvira NabiullinaEmmanuel MacronFriedrich MerzGennady ZyuganovGiorgia MeloniGitanas NausedaHakan FidanIlham AliyevJared KushnerJD VanceJoe BidenKaja KallasKarol NawrockiKassym-Jomart TokayevKeir StarmerKim Jong UnKirill DmitrievKyrylo BudanovLindsey GrahamMaia SanduMarco RubioMaria ZakharovaMarine Le PenMark CarneyMark RutteMette FrederiksenMikhail MishustinNarendra ModiNigel FarageNikol PashinyanNikolai PatrushevOleksandr SyrskyPete HegsethPeter SzijjartoRadoslaw SikorskiRafael GrossiRamzan KadyrovRecep Tayyip ErdoganRobert FicoSanae TakaichiSergei LavrovSergei MironovSergei RyabkovSergei ShoiguSergei SobyaninSteve WitkoffTucker CarlsonUrsula von der LeyenValerii ZaluzhnyVasily NebenzyaViktor OrbanVladimir PutinVolodymyr ZelenskyVyacheslav VolodinXi Jinping?

Coverage of Iraq, its government and military focused on reports of the US-led coalition’s withdrawal and Iraqi forces taking responsibility for security. Life.ru, Vzglyad and other outlets relayed Russian statements welcoming the withdrawal and describing Iraqi forces as capable of operating independently. Several outlets repeated Maria Zakharova’s claim that the 2003 US invasion caused decades of regional instability. Life.ru also reported an Iraqi oil shipment through the Strait of Hormuz, while Vzglyad covered planned cargo shipping and resumed Iranian flights.

Across 208 articles over the last 30 days, Iraq was presented as neutral toward Russia in 206 and friendly in two; none presented it as hostile. Where coverage assigned a role, Iraq was cast as a victim in 21 articles, successful in 16, a partner in six, declining in four and a threat in three.

Life.ru carried the most articles, with 40, followed by Moskovsky Komsomolets with 32. Vzglyad’s report relaying Iraq’s claim of independent security management presented it as successful. Kommersant’s withdrawal report cast it as declining, while EADaily portrayed it as a victim through claims of continued US control over Iraqi oil revenues.