Russia declares newspaper The Moscow Times 'undesirable' amid crackdown on criticism
The Russian prosecutor general’s office has declared The Moscow Times newspaper to be an “undesirable organization.”
The Russian prosecutor general's office on Wednesday declared The Moscow Times, an online newspaper popular among Russia’s expatriate community, as an “undesirable organization.”
The designation comes amid a crackdown on critical news media and the opposition. It means the newspaper must stop any work in Russia and it subjects any Russian who cooperates with the paper to up to five years in prison.
It is a more severe measure than the “foreign agent” designation applied to the news outlet in November, which subjects individuals and organizations to increased financial scrutiny and requires any of their public material to prominently include notice of being declared a foreign agent.
The Moscow Times already moved its editorial operations out of Russia in 2022 after the passage of a law imposing stiff penalties for material regarded as discrediting the Russian military and its war in Ukraine.
