‘mislead and suppress’

State Department Condemns Russia’s Crackdown on Independent News as Journalists Flee

“At home, the Kremlin is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth,” a department spokesman said in a statement.

The State Department issued a statement condemning Russia for cracking down on independent news networks in the country. “Russia is engaged in an unprovoked war on Ukraine,” department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “At home, the Kremlin is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth, and Moscow’s efforts to mislead and suppress the truth of the brutal invasion are intensifying.”

The statement comes as a wave of journalists from a Russian news network have fled the country fearing threats to their safety and as Russia prepares to consider a bill that would make “unofficial” reporting on its invasion of Ukraine punishable by up to 15 years in prison, Price said. On Tuesday, the prosecutor general’s Office in Russia ordered that access be restricted to TV Rain and the radio station Ekho Moskvy–a sharp message to the country’s dwindling independent news sources. “The Editorial board of Ekho Moskvy absolutely disagrees with the demand of the Prosecutor-General’s Office that led to the radio station being cut off the air,” said Ekho Moskvy Editor in Chief Aleksei Venediktov. Media outlets in Russia have been under pressure to avoid language that pointedly identifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a war. “The people of Russia did not choose this war. Putin did. They have a right to know about the death, suffering and destruction being inflicted by their government on the people of Ukraine,” Price wrote.