In 2000 Ognev became co-founder of InoSMI under the auspices of Strana.ru, an online resource organised as part of Vladimir Putin’s electoral campaign.

During his stint as the editor-in-chief of InoSMI Ognev kept low profile most of the time, which fed suspicions about the character of his relations with the Russian authorities and special services, especially in the light of the perceived “anti-Western” nature of InoSMI (according to media analyst Evgeny Morozov, the website “selectively translates foreign press into Russian often projecting an image of extremely hostile, biased, and incompetent Western press” [1] In late 2003 InoSMI launched its forum which became Russia’s first web forum to freely discuss translations from foreign media.

In March 2005, following the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, InoSMI translated an article by Marian Kałuski originally published in several Polish websites, including the forum of Tygodnik Powszechny.

As Tygodnik Powszechny was known for its ardent support for the Orange Revolution, this publication caused an influx of visitors, which was interpreted as a DDos attack.

Nationalist media argued that the arrival of US-educated Marina Pustilnik was a victory of “liberals” in Russia’s top echelons of power over “patriots”.

Morozov believed Ognev’s chief task at the Voice of Russia would be to build its Internet presence […]; given his excellent track record at Inosmi, he may as well succeed.