The Prosecutor General’s Office has declared TV Rain/Dozhd “undesirable” organization”, according to a press release of the agency. This refers to the legal entities of the channel registered in Latvia and the Netherlands – SIA TV Rain and TVR Studios B.V.
The prosecutor’s office said that both organizations were created by “foreign journalist Natalia Sindeyeva”, who was declared a “foreign agent” in Russia after Russia closed access to Rain’s broadcasts, website and social networks “for systematic violations of laws on mass media and information”.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Dozhd’s editorial offices in Latvia and the Netherlands employ journalists who have been declared “foreign agents” and are financed by the Dutch foundation Stichting 2 Oktober, which has also been declared a “foreign agent”.
“SIA TV Rain and TVR Studios B.V. distribute materials of extremist organizations (ACF, Navalny’s headquarters), terrorist organizations (Hizb ut-Tahrir), foreign agents (Meduza, Radio Liberty)”, the agency said.
In addition, the agency believes that Dozhd regularly publishes information materials of organizations recognized as undesirable, as well as “discredits Russian government authorities, law enforcement agencies, disseminates inaccurate information about the special military operation, supports organizations and individuals included in the register of foreign agents”.
The TV channel itself responded to the agency’s decision in the following way: “We have been called “undesirable in Russia”, but this is not true: 13 million viewers in Russia last month confirmed this”.
The journalists added that for the safety of viewers, they disabled the ability to donate to Dozhd from Russia and canceled existing subscriptions: “We urge you not to share links to our materials if you live in Russia – it is now unsafe. But keep watching Dozhd! And support our work from outside the Russian Federation”.
Recently, the Russian Ministry of Justice added Dozhd journalist Mikhail Kozyrev to the list of “foreign agents”.
