Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sputnik went on air on the 10th of November 2014, launched by the Russian state agency Rossiya Segodnya. Rossiya Segodnya itself had been created by a presidential executive order on the 9th of December 2013, replacing the news agency RIA Novosti.
Academics and journalists describe Sputnik as a Russian propaganda outlet because of its role in disinformation campaigns and its promotion of Kremlin narratives. In 2016, Neil MacFarquhar of The New York Times wrote that Russian disinformation aims to undermine "the official version of events" and foster policy paralysis. The Russian government rejects this characterization.
Sputnik favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US presidential campaign, according to former US Ambassador Michael McFaul. It circulated a fake story claiming Barack Obama and Clinton created ISIS, and it falsely quoted White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest about Russia sanctions on the 7th of December 2016.
The European Union banned Sputnik, along with RT, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022. The ban became official when the EU published its regulation on the 2nd of March 2022, and platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft and Apple removed Sputnik content and apps soon after.
Andrew Feinberg left Sputnik on the 26th of May 2017 after concluding the agency valued propagandists over real journalists. He said editors had pushed him to ask White House questions tying Seth Rich's death to the DNC email leak and to suggest the 2017 Sarin gas attack in Syria was staged.
Sputnik publishes news websites in 31 languages, including English, Spanish, Arabic and Serbian. Its radio service, Radio Sputnik, broadcasts in 30 languages across more than 130 cities in 34 countries.