Senator Narusova speaks out against censorship of news about events in Ukraine

The Russian authorities have de facto introduced military censorship, when they have unreasonably banned the media from posting information that contradicts the official version of the events in Ukraine, says Lyudmila Narusova, a member of the Federation Council.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on March 1, it became known that the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia demanded to restrict access to the websites of the “Ekho Moskvy” Radio Station and the “Dozhd” (Rain) TV Channel*, accusing them of posting false information about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.

Senator Lyudmila Narusova criticized the position of the Russian authorities, who, according to her, introduced “military censorship.” The senator clarified that she tried to discuss the issue at a meeting with colleagues, but her initiative was not supported.

“My main message has been that you need to have reliable information about everything that happens. And the ‘Roskomnadzor’ (the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media) forbids, including you, the media, to give such information, at least from various sources. I recalled that according to the ‘Law on mass media’, such a situation could only take place in a state of emergency or martial law. Neither the first, nor the second has yet been announced in the country,” senator Lyudmila Narusova said on the air of the “Dozhd” TV Channel*.

The federal channels are “blamelessly lying,” the senator adds. “Even a person far from the military profession understands that so many days of intense fighting cannot be without casualties,” said Lyudmila Narusova.

Let us remind you that only on the evening of February 27, for the first time since the start of the special military operation, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) admitted there were dead and wounded among Russian militaries, but did not disclose their number.

The deaths of natives of Southern Russia were also reported by the authorities of the southern regions. On February 26, the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, reported that Nurmagomed Gadjimagomedov, an officer and a native of the Kulinsky District, was killed during the special operation in Ukraine. There, two natives of Chechnya perished; four others were wounded, Ramzan Kadyrov said on March 1. The head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Kazbek Kokov, informed about the death of four natives of the republic in Ukraine.

* The publication has been put by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the register of media performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 2, 2022 at 11:37 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.