Through the aquisition of 75% ownership of the weekly SLOBODA (Tula) in December 2007 WAZ Media Group started its activities in Russia. With an average circulation of 90.000 copies Sloboda is the clear market leader in Tula (45% market share).

In 2008 the WAZ Media Group also became involved in Russian magazine publishing by becoming majority owners in three smaller publishing houses in St. Petersburg: Severni Gorod (entertainment magazines), Specialised Journals (special interest magazines) and Publishing Systems Europe (wedding journal).