Short answers, pulled from the story.
Russia Today began broadcasting from Moscow on the 10th of December 2005. The Russian government established this network to counter Western media narratives and improve the country's international image.
Vladimir Putin appointed Margarita Simonyan as editor-in-chief when she was just 25 years old. She had worked in journalism since age 18 and previously served as a Kremlin pool reporter.
RT launched its Arabic-language channel Rusiya Al-Yaum in 2007 followed by Spanish Actualidad RT in 2009, German service in 2014, and French-language channel in 2017. By March 2022 the network reached about 700 million households across more than 100 countries via 22 satellites.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced an EU ban on RT operating in its 27 member countries on the 27th of February 2022. Academics and news reporters have identified RT as a purveyor of disinformation and conspiracy theories.
In 2014 RT received 11.87 billion rubles which equaled $310 million in government funding. As of 2022 RT is the leader in state funding among all Russian media with expected receipts of 82 billion rubles between 2022 and 2024.