Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has labeled The Moscow Times as “undesirable.”

The designation bans anyone from working with or having links to the organization, with criminal prosecution for violations.

“The work of the outlet is aimed at discrediting the decisions of the leadership of the Russian Federation in both foreign and domestic policy,” the office said in a statement.

The office also accused The Moscow Times of “publications containing unreliable socially significant information aimed at discrediting the activities” of the government regarding the war in Ukraine.

The “undesirable” designation bans The Moscow Times’ work inside Russia, puts staff members at risk of jail time, and criminalizes engagement with the outlet.

Russians have even been fined for reposting web links and articles published by “undesirable organizations,” according to the independent Mediazona news website.

“Of course, we will continue with our work as usual: independent journalism. That’s a crime in Putin’s Russia,” The Moscow Times’ founder Derk Sauer said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Moscow introduced its “undesirable” list in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs and ban Russians from working with or donating to them.

Authorities have since used the law on “undesirable” organizations to target independent news outlets, human rights groups, environmental organizations and educational institutions.

Editors’ Note

The Moscow Times was founded in 1992 in Russia with the mission of delivering independent, high-quality news about the country, newly emerged from the Soviet Union, to English speakers.

For over 30 years, we have stayed true to this mission, expanding with a Russian-language service in January 2022.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and the subsequent passage of repressive wartime censorship laws — forced our newsroom into exile. 

The labeling of The Moscow Times as “undesirable” is the latest of many efforts to suppress our reporting on the truth in Russia and its war in Ukraine, including blocking our website and naming us a “foreign agent.”

We join a long list of high-quality independent media that have also been named “undesirable,” including Meduza, Dozhd, Novaya Gazeta Europe, The Insider, IStories, Proekt, Doxa and more.

This designation will make it even more difficult for us to do our jobs, putting reporters and fixers inside Russia at risk of criminal prosecution and making sources even more hesitant to speak to us. 

We refuse to give in to this pressure. We refuse to be silenced.

We are counting on the support of all of you, our readers, to help us continue our work and defy the Kremlin.

(C)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2024