How Russia Silences Critical Reporting on the War in Ukraine

Russia’s months-long detention of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva — who were released on August 1 as part of a prisoner swap — was one of the most blatant examples of Russia’s muzzling of the press following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The war has led to what a representative of the now-shuttered Russian Journalists and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) — who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns — called the “biggest press freedom crisis in Russia’s recent history.”

Lawyers estimate that hundreds of Russian journalists have fled into exile, where some still face transnational repression including arrest warrants and prison sentences in absentia. Those who remain are under tight surveillance, while independent reporting hangs by a thread.

While practicing journalism has long been difficult in Russia, the government has stepped up efforts to suppress the work of the media, passing new anti-press laws, amending others, and expanding censorship measures. “The overall goal, without a doubt, when we talk about all these tools, is of course to silence people, and they succeed in doing so, so that people … censor themselves,” the JMWU representative told CPJ.

These are the most common methods Russia has used to silence the press since the beginning of the war:

Criminalizing ‘fake news’ about the war

One of the Russian government’s first actions to crack down on reporting about the war, in March 2022, was to pass amendments to the criminal code to punish the spread of “fake news” about the military. At least five journalists are in jail for allegedly spreading fake news about the military, one is under house arrest, and several others have been charged in absentia. This includes American-Russian journalist and author Masha Gessen; Russia issued an arrest warrant for Gessen in 2023 for allegedly spreading “fake information” about the Russian massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in a 2022 interview, and sentenced Gessen to eight years in absentia on July 15, 2024. A week later, on July 23, Russian authorities sentenced Mikhail Zygar, the former editor-in-chief of the now-banned Russian broadcaster Dozhd TV (TV Rain) and a CPJ 2014 International Press Freedom Awardee, to eight and a half years in absentia for an Instagram post about the Bucha massacre.

Russia has used anti-state laws to retaliate against other members of the press, including Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, convicted on espionage charges, and Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for treason. Another journalist, Antonina Favorskaya, was accused of joining an extremist group after covering the trials of late opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Her colleague Artyom Krieger is currently in prison on similar charges.

Extension of the designations ‘foreign agent’ and ‘undesirable’ persons

Russia’s “foreign agent” law, first introduced in 2012 and expanded in 2017 to specifically target media outlets and journalists, originally required recipients of foreign funding to apply the “foreign agent” label to all published material and to report their own activities and expenditures to government authorities. Initially seen as a badge of honor and a hindrance by independent news organizations and journalists, the label has become even more severe during the war. In March 2024, Russia banned advertising on “foreign agent” channels, hurting the profits of many news organizations and YouTube channels. Russia has also made it easier for authorities to apply the “foreign agent” label to individuals and channels by removing the requirement that the Justice Department prove foreign funding in July 2022.

According to Dmitrii Anisimov, a spokesperson and campaigner for the human rights news website OVD-Info, as of July 2024, some 268 journalists and media outlets in the country were labeled as “foreign agents.” Amid the war in Ukraine, journalists are increasingly being fined for failing to disclose their status or file required reports, and some even face prison sentences. Before her release, Kurmasheva, a U.S.-Russian journalist and editor for the U.S. congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained for more than nine months after being accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent” and later sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian military. Denis Kamalyagin, a Russian journalist in exile, faces up to two years in prison for violating the law, he told CPJ.

Since the war, Russia has also increasingly applied another label — “undesirable” — to media outlets. Widely seen as an escalation of the “foreign agent” label, the “undesirable” label was first introduced in 2015 to effectively ban organizations registered abroad from operating in the country. Working for an “undesirable” organization can result in a six-year prison sentence and administrative fines. It is also a crime to distribute content from an “undesirable” organization or donate to it from inside or outside Russia.

Before the war, the investigative site Proekt was the only media outlet deemed “undesirable,” but by July 2024, 20 had been slapped with that label, Anisimov said. Between January and June 2024, Russian authorities opened at least 28 media-related cases against individuals for “participation in an undesirable organization,” according to Alexander Borodikhin, a data reporter at the independent news outlet Mediazona. Borodikhin told CPJ that of the 28 cases, 12 were against journalists, 14 against people who posted “undesirable” content, and two against journalistic sources.

Maria Epifanova, CEO of Novaya Gazeta Europe in Latvia, which was deemed “undesirable” in June 2023, told CPJ that the label has affected the outlet’s work and finances. Freelancers in Russia “have to work in fear and write under pseudonyms,” she said. Anyone who talks to the outlet is also at risk. “We have to hide names and details that help identify a person. That dramatically affects the credibility of articles,” Epifanova said.

Some media outlets don’t survive the designation. HelpDesk Media was launched shortly before the full-scale invasion “to show the war in Ukraine through the eyes of ordinary people,” according to its website. On May 20, less than five months after it was labeled “undesirable,” it announced its closure, saying it didn’t have enough funding to continue operating.

Revoke media licenses and block websites

Some Russian media outlets are at risk of losing their government-issued licenses over reporting, particularly since Russia passed a law in July 2022 that allows authorities to invalidate the registration of media outlets without a court order. According to the Mass Media Defense Center, a Russian group that provides legal assistance to journalists and news outlets, and other journalists CPJ spoke with, registration has many benefits, including faster responses to requests for comment from officials and eligibility for accreditation to cover official functions.

Leading Russian independent news site Novaya Gazeta — not to be confused with Novaya Gazeta Europe, which is made up of former employees of the former who fled the country — had both its print and online licenses revoked in September 2022. Nadezhda Prusenkova, the site’s head of press, told CPJ that the site is in survival mode. “No circulation, no advertising, only crowdfunding and (an) online store. No salaries for journalists. No possibility to work officially (from places where accreditation is required).”

Some media outlets are blocking their content online before losing their licenses. Mark Nebesnyi, editor-in-chief of the independent news outlet Svobodnye Media, told CPJ that Russia’s state media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked his website without explanation shortly after the large-scale invasion began. He believes the block was in retaliation for the channel’s critical coverage of the war, the Russian government, and the channel’s investigation into alleged embezzlement of the state budget. Following the block, which he said caused a significant economic blow, Svobodnye Media will lose its license in October 2023.

According to the Russian independent internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda, more than 18,500 websites were blocked in May 2024 for their coverage of the war. Many websites removed their own content for fear of reprisals, Roskomsvoboda reported last year.

Foreign journalists and their media outlets have also faced arbitrary and repressive measures. Several members of the foreign press have been forced to leave after having their accreditation revoked or their visa extensions denied. In late June, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that access to 81 European media outlets would be blocked for spreading “false information” about the war.

“(In Russia) independent journalism is still possible. But that’s the problem. You never know how long you’ll exist and what you’re risking,” the JMWU representative said.

CPJ emailed Russia’s Investigative Committee, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, and media regulator Roskomnadzor seeking comment on the measures against the press, but did not receive a response.

Editor’s Note: This feature has been updated to clarify the source of the information provided about the number of blocked websites in connection with their reporting.