TASS agyentstvo Sovyetskovo Soyuza") which was the central agency for news collection and distribution for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the agency was renamed "Information Telegraph Agency of Russia" (ITAR-TASS) in 1992, but regained the simpler TASS name in 2014. The origin of TASS dates back to December 1902 when it began operations as the Commercial Telegraph Agency (TTA, Torgovo-Telegrafnoe Agentstvo) under the Ministry of Finance, with Torgovo-Promyshlennaya Gazeta's staff being the main supplier of journalists. As the demand for non-business began during the first battles of the Russo-Japanese War in February
TASS adopted a resolution ""On approval of the Charter of the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia"", under which it operates as a central government news agency. The TASS acronym was, by this point, well-recognized around the world and so was retained after being redefined as the "Telegraph agency of communication and messages" (). The agency as a whole was referred to as "ITAR-TASS". In September 2014 the agency regained its former name as "Russian News Agency TASS". TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterprise, owned by the Government of Russia. Headquartered in Moscow, TASS has 70 offices in Russia