THE Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has branded The Moscow Times, a well-known online newspaper popular among Russia’s English-speaking expats as an “undesirable organization”, thereby banning its activities in the country. This move makes anyone who assists with the publication potentially face criminal charges punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.
This is part of a wider crackdown on critical media and political opposition in Russia. It is more severe than a “foreign agent” designation given to the outlet in November, which required greater financial oversight and prominent labeling of public materials
Following the adoption of a law imposing heavy penalties for content discrediting the Russian military and its actions in Ukraine, The Moscow Times had already moved its editorial operations out of Russia by 2022. Although it publishes in both English and Russian languages, several months after the beginning of war in Ukraine, its Russian-language site was blocked by Russia.
In an editor’s note about this decision, “The labeling of The Moscow Times as undesirable just adds to many other attempts aimed at silencing our voices speaking for truth about Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.…We will therefore find it even harder to do our job putting reporters and fixers inside Russia at risk of facing legal persecutions and sources even less willing to speak.”
“We refuse to succumb under such suppression. We refuse being voiceless,” said the paper.
The Moscow Times – founded as a daily newspaper distributed free-of-charge at locations frequented by foreigners living in Moscow whose numbers grew dramatically following the break-up of Soviet Union – became a weekly print edition before finally becoming an online-only publication from 2017 onwards.
For some time now, Russia has been targeting Kremlin critics either through branding them “foreign agents” or “undesirable organizations” or sometimes both. Other undesirables that include Novaya Gazeta (independent newspaper) where there is Nobel winner Dmitry Muratov as one amongst others and Meduza (news site) have also been labeled.
Similarly, Russia detained key opposition figures like anti-corruption campaigner, Alexey Navalny, who was President Putin’s chief domestic adversary, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
