Russia declares TV Rain ‘undesirable organization’

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has declared the independent media outlet TV Rain’s branches in Latvia and the Netherlands “undesirable,” criminalizing their work in Russia.

According to the office’s statement, the channel’s legal entities in those countries were created by “foreign journalist Natalya Sindeyeva,” who was declared a “foreign agent” in Russia after the authorities there blocked TV Rain for alleged “systematic violations of media and information laws.”

The statement also cited the fact that TV Rain receives financing from the Dutch nonprofit foundation Stichting 2 Oktober, which is on Russia’s “foreign agents” registry, as well as that it publishes materials from “extremist organizations” such as Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, “terrorist organizations” such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, and “foreign agents” such as Meduza and Radio Liberty.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, TV Rain’s Latvian and Dutch branches have “discredited” the Russian authorities, spread “disinformation” about Russia’s “special military operation,” and supported people and organizations that have been declared “foreign agents” or “undesirable” in Russia.