The Rostov newspaper «Krestyanin» stopped publishing on paper due to military censorship. The statement of the head of the publishing house of the same name, Irina Samokhina, was published on its website.
Samokhina explained that in recent years, the amendments restricting the work of the media «bound the newspaper's employees hand and foot», but after the start of the war in Ukraine, the laws became really «harsh».
“[New Articles] Penalize Spreading ‘Fake’ about the actions of the Armed Forces, «discrediting» their use and «calls for sanctions». Significantly complicated our work and new articles 207.1 and 207.2 of the Criminal Code, according to which journalists were punished for disseminating unreliable socially significant information. It became possible to convict under these articles, for example, for information about a threatening default,” Samokhina said.
According to her, working in such conditions has become dangerous, especially for those who print materials on paper, and the decision to close the publication, which was founded by her father Vladimir Fomin in 1991, was difficult.
The newspaper was part of the association of independent media «Syndicat-100», created by «Novaya Gazeta». The last issue of Krestyanin was published on June 29.
«We can no longer give everyone the opportunity to express their point of view, we cannot publish critical statements of their readers in relation to the actions of the authorities,” concluded Samokhina. At the same time, employees will continue to publish materials on the YouTube channel and on the Agrobuk telegram, as well as on the Agrobook.ru website.
Pavel Chikov, head of the Agora human rights group, said on June 28 that a total of 67 criminal cases on military «fakes» (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), and 50 of them — in part two, which provides for punishment from 5 to 10 years in prison.
In May, OVD-info calculated that since the beginning of the war, almost two thousand protocols had been drawn up in the country (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) on the «discredit» of the Russian army. According to Roskomsvoboda, as of May 5, since February 24, the RKN has blocked more than three thousand sites that mention the war.