The EU signaled the change earlier this week. (Representative)
London:
The European Union said on Friday it was suspending the distribution of four Russia-linked media outlets in the EU, despite a warning from Moscow this week that any such move would trigger swift retaliation.
The ban applies to Voice of Europe, the RIA Novosti news agency and the newspapers Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, claiming that “they have been essential and instrumental in carrying out and supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”, said the European Council in a statement. .
The move is part of a planned 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bloc has already imposed sanctions on Russian state media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik.
The EU flagged the move earlier this week, prompting Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to warn: “We will respond with lightning speed and in an extremely painful way for Westerners.” It was unclear how Moscow would react.
In an interview with Izvestia, the head of the international department of the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) called the EU ban “illegal” and said the matter should have been decided by a court.
Timur Shafir said the ban would prevent Russian speakers living in parts of Europe that were once under Soviet control from accessing what he called “alternative information” about world events.
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