Russia declares The Moscow Times newspaper ‘undesirable’

Russian authorities on Wednesday declared the Netherlands-based media outlet The Moscow Times an “undesirable organization,” the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.

According to the note, the media outlet’s activities aim to “discredit the decisions of Russian leaders in both foreign and domestic policy.”

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, The founder and owner of the media is a citizen of the Netherlandswho also runs two NGOs with the status of ‘foreign agent’ and ‘undesirable’ in this country.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian authorities have declared organisations such as Greenpeace, WWF and Transparency International, as well as independent media such as Meduza and the Dozhd channel, undesirable.

The Moscow Times newspaper, which was published in print until 2017, was founded in the early 1990s by Dutch tycoon Derk Sauer, who He also promoted the creation of other Russian magazines in English, such as ‘Moscow Magazine’ and ‘Moscow Guardian’.

In early 2022, Russian communications regulator Roscomnadzor blocked the website of The Moscow Times’ Russian-language service.