In Kazakhstan, access to the Russian mass media “Tsargrad” was disabled

The site of the Russian TV channel “Tsargrad” is blocked in Kazakhstan. On the website of the Ministry of Information and Social Development (MIOR) of Kazakhstan, it is indicated that access to the website of this mass media was closed due to the propaganda of extremism on its resources.

According to the ministry’s message, the text of which is quoted by the KazTAG agency, “materials aimed at inciting negative public resonance and inciting inter-ethnic discord were revealed on the site.” It is known that there are four materials in total, one of which is called “Kazakh nationalists terrorize Russian women on the eve of Victory Day.”

On August 17, a post with a reaction to the news about the blockade in Kazakhstan appeared on the “Tsargrad” Telegram channel, in which it is said that “we are working very well, if they have already stopped.” The founder of “Tsargrad” Konstantin Malofeev also reacted to the blocking, calling Kazakhstan a “former province” of the Russian Empire, which “pushes and wriggles out of its sovereign state due to the bullying of the Russians.”

“Tsargrad” takes an active pro-Kremlin position, supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine, covers events from the standpoint of Russian nationalism of the imperial variety. Malofeev, who also participated in the annexation of Crimea and the events that led to the start of the war in Donbass, is under sanctions from the United States and other Western countries. In July 2020, YouTube blocked the “Tsargrad” channel without the possibility of recovery. The Google company, which owns video hosting, said that the account of the Russian TV channel violated export legislation.

As noted by Radio Azattyk, in Kazakhstan, federal channels, as before, broadcast unhindered. They are present in cable television packages. After Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan occasionally reported that some Russian channels had been shut down, which in all cases turned out to be temporary.