MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and Interfax have launched a joint project set to cover important national news in around 600 regional media.

“This project is revolutionary as two rival agencies - the independent Interfax agency and the federal state RIA Novosti agency - are carrying out a joint media project for the first time,” RIA Novosti Editor-in-Chief Svetlana Mironyuk said.

“This is happening because we are serious strategic players in the media market and we seriously monitor and assess the changes that are occurring in the regional media market,” she said.

The move, pushed by the Communications Ministry, is intended to support regional media in crisis, Deputy Minister Alexander Zharov said.

“This measure is not permanent. This is a temporary, crisis measure aimed at supporting media that are in a difficult financial situation,” Zharov said at a RIA Novosti press conference.

Regional media will be able to subscribe for free and besides news stories will also receive photos, collages, infographics and videos. The subscription is available at fedpaket.ru.