Roskomnadzor has blocked the website of the Russian-language Berlin TV channel in Russia

Roskomnadzor has blocked the website of the Russian-language Berlin TV channel “OstWest” in Russia. The project “Roskomsvoboda” drew attention to this. The Berlin channel publishes materials of famous Russian journalists who were forced to leave Russia.

“OstWest” has 218,000 subscribers on YouTube and 280,000 on Facebook. The editor-in-chief of the channel, Maria Makeeva, was previously the deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian TV channel “Dozhd” and the leading radio station “Serebryanyi dozhd”. In 2022, her channel received the National Award of the German National Foundation for commitment to democracy.

In 2022, the channel aired the programs of the former editor-in-chief of “Rain” Mikhail Zygar, who was declared a foreign agent by the Russian authorities. In 2023, the materials of former Kommersant columnist and art curator Anna Narynskaya, who left the country.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s already large-scale internet censorship has been tightened. The websites of dozens of Russian and foreign mass media, including the projects of Radio Liberty, and hundreds of public organizations are blocked in the country.

The country ranks 164 out of 180 in the press freedom rating, which is updated annually by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders.