Russia bans more than 80 Western media

 

    Threats to shut down the media if they speak out against Vladimir Putin

Russia has banned 81 European Union media outlets. These media outlets have been accused of spreading anti-Russian news for a long time. Apart from this, Russia also accused them of giving false information about the war in Ukraine. As a result, the Russian people will no longer be able to watch these media.

In fact, Russia is not calling the Ukraine campaign a war. This is called a special army operation. Legal action is being taken against anyone who calls it war. But most of the media is calling it a war.

Earlier, Russia had banned several independent media outlets. Threats to shut down the media if they speak out against President Vladimir Putin.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said that an incident in May is behind this decision. At that time, the European Union imposed sanctions on four Russian media outlets. Allegedly, those media are spreading propaganda for the Kremlin. Prague's Voice of Europe was also on the list, directly opposing the Western world. Russia strongly criticized the EU's move.

The EU's response

Media outlets that have been shut down include the French news agency AFP, Germany's Spiegel, Spain's El Paris, Austria's and Italy's national news agencies. A ban has also been imposed on the famous newspaper Politico.

The EU vice president called Russia's move "foolish". He claimed that the banned media are not propaganda machines.

Moscow's statement

Moscow said it could reverse the move. In that case, the EU should lift the ban on Russian media.

Russia said, "We warned repeatedly. Journalists in the EU who speak for Russia cannot be bothered. Media cannot be obstructed. But the EU did not listen to that.

After the 2022 operation in Ukraine, many Western media outlets moved their staff from Russia. Because, the Russian parliament passed several laws against the press and journalists. Deutsche Welle was also banned by Russia at the time.

The case against Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovic began a day before yesterday's ban. He was arrested earlier.