Moscow: In a retaliatory move, Russia announced on Friday that it will impose restrictions on the operations of US media organizations in Russia, following sanctions placed on Russian state-run broadcaster RT by the US.
The US administration, led by President Joe Biden, recently indicted two RT staff members and sanctioned top editors, accusing the network of interfering in the upcoming 2024 US presidential election. The sanctions are part of broader efforts to curb foreign interference in US politics.
In response, the Kremlin signaled that it would restrict the operations of US media outlets in Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that while a “symmetrical response” is not possible due to the lack of a US state-run news agency, Russia will still implement measures to curb American media influence. “There is no state news agency or state TV channel in the US, but there will certainly be measures here that will restrict their media disseminating their information,” Peskov told the state-run RIA Novosti.
This latest move fits within a broader pattern of media suppression under President Vladimir Putin’s regime, which has overseen a sustained crackdown on free speech for nearly 25 years. Independent news outlets have been shut down, controlled, or forced to leave Russia, with new laws enacted following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine further formalizing these restrictions. Peskov defended the Kremlin’s actions, stating, “In the state of war that we are in, restrictions are justified, and censorship is also justified,” in a separate interview with the TASS news agency.
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Although Peskov did not specify the exact nature of the restrictions on US media, Russia has already taken significant actions against American journalists. In March 2023, Russian authorities arrested Evan Gershkovich, a US journalist with The Wall Street Journal. After being convicted in what many international observers called a sham trial, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Gershkovich was eventually released in a prisoner swap last month.
Russia has also frozen the funds of Google’s Russian subsidiary to finance its pro-government media outlets, particularly those involved in covering the Ukraine war. Other companies affected by Russian asset seizures include AgroTerra, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and Commerzbank, according to Reuters.
