Now journalists face a fine of no more than one and a half million rubles to imprisonment for up to 15 years in prison if they describe the war in Ukraine with the wrong theses and facts, as it is presented by the authorities. In other words, now they will not be able to call war. After all, as you know, according to the official Kremlin, Russia is conducting a military operation in Ukraine. Also, the Russian media will not be able to write that the losses of the Russian army in this war exceeded 9 thousand people. After all, according to “official statistics” there are less than 500 of them. Just as they will not be able to write that the Russian army is bombing peaceful Ukrainian cities, because of which the civilian population, including children, is dying. Indeed, according to “official” information, the Russian army does not do this, and Ukraine itself bombs its cities.

The law also provides for up to 5 years in prison for calls to prevent the use of Russian troops “to protect the interests of Russia.” Anyone who calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and the end of the invasion can go under this article. Including the mothers of Russian soldiers killed and captured in Ukraine. Putin also approved criminal liability for calls for sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Considering that there are already few independent media in Russia, and after the closure of Dozhd and Ekho Moskvy, there are even fewer of them, citizens of the Russian Federation will continue to receive only the information that the Russian authorities deem necessary to provide.

Moreover, on March 4, Roskomnadzor officially confirmed that it had unblocked the work of social networks Facebook and Twitter on the territory of the Russian Federation. There is also a restriction on the work of YouTube video hosting.

After Putin signed the law, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta removes all its materials related to the Russian attack on Ukraine and refuses to further cover this topic. In its appeal, the newspaper says that it is doing this for the safety of employees and by the decision of the majority of accomplices.

Recall that earlier Russians stopped opening such publications as Meduza, BBC, Radio Liberty and Deutsche Welle, which write about the war in Ukraine.