Russia Intimidates Journalists Over Coverage of Its Attack Against Ukraine
Media outlets in Russia have been ordered to remove reports labeling the ongoing attack on Ukraine an "assault, invasion, or declaration of war" - or face being blocked and fined.
Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) said several independent media outlets spread "unreliable and untrue information" about the Russian army shelling Ukrainian cities and the deaths of civilians.
Radio station Echo Moskvy and the most prominent independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, whose editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, were among those sent warning letters.
According to the regulator, the Prosecutor-General's Office has requested that independent television channels, such as Dozhd, be blocked unless they remove "unreliable information."
Moreover, the Roskomnadzor has launched an administrative investigation into the dissemination of unreliable public information by the above-mentioned outlets," the watchdog said, adding that the offense could lead to a fine of up to 5 million rubles ($60,000).
Roskomnadzor also said that "reliable information" could be found in "official Russian media outlets.".
As of Thursday morning, Russian troops invaded Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, after a night of street fighting and explosions that sent residents looking for shelter underground. Russian troops claim they are conducting a "special military operation" to defend Russia-backed separatists in the east and to demilitarize and "de-Nazify" the country.
Meanwhile, Elena Chernenko, a reporter for the daily Kommersant, has been excluded from the Foreign Ministry's pool due to an open letter condemning the attack on Ukraine, which has been signed by nearly 300 reporters.
Yury Dud is yet another journalist who had trouble. In a lengthy social media post, Dud, a vocal Kremlin critic who runs one of the most popular YouTube blogs in Russia, denounced the invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, a Kremlin-backed internet watchdog group, the Safe Internet League, made a request to the Prosecutor-General's Office and the Justice Ministry to label Dud a "foreign agent" - a crippling designation that implies additional government scrutiny and pejorative connotations that would discredit him.
State-owned TV station Channel One announced it is replacing entertainment shows with news and political programs in response to the current political climate. One of those canceled shows was the late-night show hosted by comedian Ivan Urgant, who spoke out against the invasion on Instagram.
The channel’s spokesperson said Urgant's Instagram post had nothiUrgant's with the decision to cut his show from the schedule.
