MOSCOW, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two more independent media outlets in Russia have been forced to shut down after their websites were blocked by the authorities, they said, amid a government crackdown on critical voices ahead of elections later this year.
The risks to staff are now too great, the editorial team of the investigative platform openmedia.io said in a statement on Telegram.
MBCh Media also said it would stop operations.
Both media groups were founded by the exiled Kremlin critic and ex-oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives abroad.
The two outlets were blocked on Wednesday, by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, for alleged links to organizations deemed “undesirable” by the Russian judiciary.
The two media outlets disputed the assertion.
The Open Russia pro-democracy organization, also supported by Khodorkovsky, dissolved itself late in May, after having campaigned for more democracy and the development of civil society in Russia during the past 20 years.
The Britain-registered Khodorkovsky Foundation was classified as “undesirable” by the Russian prosecutor general’s office earlier this year, effectively banning all its activities.
Russian authorities have gone after a slew of foreign non-governmental organizations, saying the work of the organizations pose a threat to the country’s constitutional order and security.
Russia is due to conduct parliamentary elections in the autumn. — NNN-AGENCIES
