The Russian defence ministry plans to launch a "military-patriotic" nation-wide television channel called Zevzda, or Star, in a bid to boost the armed forces' profile in Russia, it said Friday.
"The ministry is working on a project to launch a military-patriotic channel called Zvezda (star)," ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko told AFP.
The TV network could be put on air on February 23 next year, Russia's army day, he said.
The Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily reported that the military has only allocated 80,000 dollars of funding for the channel, which would require 100 million dollars in order to be broadcast throughout the world's largest country.
The defence ministry has held discussions with gas monopoly Gazprom and oil majors LUKoil and Rosneft on financing, but without great success. It hopes the state-run arms export body Rosoboronexport will provide the necessary funds, the daily said.
According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Zvezda would represent the views not only of the military but of the secret services and law and order agencies.
The number and influence in the government of men from the military and security structures, known as the "siloviki", has increased greatly since President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB colonel, came to power at the end of 1999.