Trojan horse under an American sign: how Newsmax Ukraine prepares infrastructure for RF narratives

The glossy façade of the American conservative television channel Newsmax, which actively promotes the right-wing agenda of the US Republican Party, may conceal a much more complex international structure.

It intertwines the interests of Serbian state-owned telecommunications companies, Polish intermediary entities, and Latvian entrepreneurs previously implicated in controversial corporate scandals.

On May 28, 2026, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting officially registered Newsmax Ukraine LLC as a linear media outlet.

A channel with a Balkan background and a Polish ownership structure

The official public mission of the Ukrainian project Newsmax Ukraine appears impeccable and even patriotic. At a meeting of the National Council, the channel’s general producer, Lyudmyla Nemyria, stated that the Ukrainian agenda must be heard in the United States and that this goal will be the primary focus of the new media outlet.

According to Nemyria, the channel plans to target both Ukrainian and American audiences, translate some of its content into English, create joint studios with American and Ukrainian politicians, and develop satellite, cable, and OTT broadcasting.

According to Ukrainian corporate registries, Newsmax Ukraine Television and Radio Broadcasting Company LLC was registered in September 2025 with a charter capital of 1 million hryvnias. According to the channel’s management, the acquisition of the franchise and the launch of the project are being financed by the founders.

The ownership structure is as follows: Lyudmila Nemyrya - 15%; Polish company Varzar sp. z oo - 85%.

The Polish company’s beneficiary is Latvian citizen Romans Varlamovs. According to sources familiar with the project’s structure, the Polish company may have business ties to the Serbian telecommunications giant Telekom Srbija. Independent confirmation of the nature of this relationship was not available at the time of publication.

This aspect deserves special attention, as Telekom Srbija is a state-owned company and has repeatedly been the target of criticism from independent media and civil society organizations in the Balkans in recent years. Critics of the company have argued that its commercial expansion has been accompanied by increased influence by the Serbian government over the region’s media market.

This fact alone does not indicate any external control over Newsmax Ukraine. However, the involvement of entities connected to the Balkan media market may raise legitimate questions regarding the project’s future editorial independence and the potential influence of third parties present in the region.

Estonian transit and "sleeping" proxies in Latvia

Cross-border media projects often rely on companies registered in various EU countries. Of particular interest in this regard is the Tallinn-registered company TELEGROUP TECHNOLOGIES OÜ (registration number 14384435), whose stated activity is electronic communications services.

According to the Estonian Commercial Register, the company’s financial statements for recent years show extremely limited business activity. There is no revenue, no staff, and no significant operating expenses.

Since September 1, 2023, Roman Varlamov has owned 50% of the company. The other co-owner is his long-time business partner, Arnis Draudziņš. However, the Estonian company’s registered contact information lists a Ukrainian mobile phone number.

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At one extreme, we have the purchase of the international American franchise Newsmax, while at the other, the legal heart of this European communications network is located in an ordinary panel high-rise building.

The facts revealed allow us to establish the existence of stable business ties between the participants of the Estonian structure and the majority owners of the Ukrainian project Newsmax Ukraine. However, it is premature to assert that the Estonian company is being used to circumvent sanctions, route hidden traffic, or channel shady financial flows based solely on registration data. Such conclusions would require additional documentary evidence.

Old connections in Latvia

According to Crediweb.lv , GLOBĀLS TELEKOMS has been registered in Latvia since 2020. Its co-owners are equal: Roman Varlamov, Arnis Draudziņš, and Jurijs Piskovojs . The company lists cable telecommunications as its primary activity, but its public reporting also does not indicate significant operational activity.

Of additional interest in the context of this business group’s analysis is the legal address of the Latvian company GLOBĀLS TELEKOMS – Brīvības gatve 398-144 in Riga. This is a typical Soviet-era apartment building, not a specialized office center or telecommunications infrastructure facility.

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The mere fact of registering a company at such an address does not indicate any violations and is common practice in Latvia. However, for a company claiming to operate in the cable telecommunications sector, such an address appears atypical and further raises questions regarding the extent of its actual operational activities.

Of particular interest in this configuration is the figure of Yuriy Piskovyi. Until mid-2012, he was actively mentioned among those connected to the operation of EX.ua, Ukraine’s largest pirate file-sharing site. Journalist Graham Stack’s investigation for Business New Europe noted that Piskovyi may have acted as a nominal representative for certain international entities. The same investigation also uncovered Piskovyi’s connection to the Latvian company International Overseas Services (IOS), which figured in high-profile publications about opaque schemes surrounding the sale of an offshore drilling rig to Chornomornaftogaz (the so-called " Boyko rigs " case).

It should be emphasized that the existence of historical business contacts does not constitute legal proof of Piskov’s or his current partners’ involvement in any current illegal activities. Nevertheless, his name appearing in the ownership structure of the telecommunications company, along with Varlamov and Draudziņš, provides important context for examining the network of connections surrounding the Newsmax Ukraine project.

Political and information risks

The launch of Newsmax Ukraine comes at a time when information security issues have become existential for Ukraine and the Baltic states. If the project truly positions itself as an authoritative American media platform with the participation of Western politicians and experts, this could potentially increase the level of trust in the content distributed by some audiences.

There is currently no direct evidence that Newsmax Ukraine is coordinated by Russian entities or plans to promote pro-Kremlin narratives. However, the identified connections between the project’s participants, the public sector in the Balkans, and a chain of under-represented telecommunications companies in EU countries provide sufficient grounds for increased public and regulatory scrutiny.

Taken together, the low-activity telecommunications structures in Estonia and Latvia, the registration of some companies at addresses lacking obvious signs of specialized infrastructure, and the overlapping ownership create compelling grounds for further professional investigation of the business network surrounding the Newsmax Ukraine project.