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Statement Move! This Russian TV News Channel's Entire Team Resigned Live On-Air Over Ukraine Invasion

On March 4, President Putin officially penned into law a bill introducing jail terms of up to 15 years for reporting fake news regarding the Russian army, as Moscow further pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine.

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The Russian government is implementing new rules on media outlets on how and what they can report on the ongoing war in Ukraine. This triggered a Russian news channel to take a massive and statement move. The entire team of a Russian television channel decided to resign live on-air after announcing "no to war" in the last telecast this week. The working staff of V Rain (Dozhd) decided on the move after the Vladimir Putin-led Russian authorities suspended their operations over its coverage of the ongoing Ukraine war.

One of the founding members of the channel, Natalia Sindeyeva, stated "no to war" in its final live telecast as the staff staged a walkout from the studio. Later on, the news agency also released an official statement and announced that it opted to suspend all operations "indefinitely".

Writer Daniel Abrahams took to LinkedIn and shared a video of the mass resignation. Since then, the clips went massively viral on multiple social media platforms.

Right after the dramatic resignation of its employees, the channel decided to play the 'Swan Lake' ballet video, which was aired on state-run TV channels in Russia after the historic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russia's Attempts To Silence Media

Radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow), one of the last remaining liberal media outlets in Russia, also has been dissolved by its board due to massive pressure after its coverage of Russia's Ukraine invasion- its editor revealed on March 3.

Meanwhile, one of Russia's leading news and current affairs channels, the station was taken off the air on March 1 though it appeared still to be running live on YouTube after the board's decision was made official.

The radio station has also featured interviews with many Ukrainian journalists who narrated the horrors of Russia's invasion, a decision that could have crossed a line, as per the New York Times.

However, Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov informed news agency Reuters earlier in the week that the station has no plans to abandon the independent editorial line, which has been its hallmark for almost three decades now, stating: "Our editorial policies won't change."

On Friday (March 4), President Putin officially penned into law a bill introducing jail terms of up to 15 years for reporting fake news regarding the Russian army, as Moscow further pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine. The bill also sets out jail terms of variable lengths and fines against individuals who publish "knowingly false information" regarding the military, with numerous extremer penalties to hit when dissemination is deemed to have serious consequences, reported NDTV.

Furthermore, Putin also penned a bill that imposes fines or jail terms of up to three years for demanding sanctions against Russia. Moscow faced many heavy economic penalties from Western capitals since the start of the Ukraine invasion.

Western Capitals Vs Putin's Russia

On March 2, the United States accused Vladimir Putin's government of launching a "full war on media freedom and the truth" by thwarting independent news outlets and prohibiting Russians from learning news of the invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia's government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russia's citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions," the State Department stated in an official release.

It added that Russians also used social media to connect to each other and the outside world.

Also Read: India To Face Record Fuel Price Hike? Report Suggests Rs 12 Increase In Petrol, Diesel Price Required To Breakeven

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