BBC 'temporarily suspends' work of ALL its news journalists in Russia 'for safety of staff' as Moscow approves law threatening 15 years in jail to anyone spreading 'fake information' about its military
- Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor 'limited access' to BBC websites Friday
- It comes after UK watchdog opened 27 investigations into Kremlin-backed RT
- Other websites have also been blocked, including Deutsche Welle and Svoboda
By LAURENCE DOLLIMORE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 01:05 AEDT, 5 March 2022 | UPDATED: 04:30 AEDT, 5 March 2022
The BBC is 'temporarily suspending' the work of all its news journalists and support staff in Russia after authorities passed legislation cracking down on foreign outlets.
Director-general Tim Davie said the new law appeared to 'criminalise the process of independent journalism' in the country.
The Russian parliament approved a law on Friday that would make it a criminal offence to spread 'fake' or 'false' news about the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.
It comes after foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the BBC of playing a 'determined role in undermining the Russian stability and security'.
A statement from Mr Davie said: 'This legislation appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism.
'It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development.
BBC Director-general Tim Davie (pictured) said today: 'In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust.'
Editors of BBC Russia (website homepage pictured) had earlier received notices from Roskomnadzor demanding to remove materials, claiming they contained 'inaccurate, socially significant information distributed under the guise of reliable messages, which creates a threat of harm to life.'
BBC Russia reports that it has been included in the register of mass media 'containing calls for riots, extremism and participation in illegal mass actions.' (Pictured: BBC Russia homepage)
BBC Moscow correspondent Caroline Davies flew out to Russia in January (Pictured in selfie next to St Basil's cathedral)
Top BBC journalists at risk of being prosecuted in Russia following Kremlin crackdown on foreign media outlets
Steve Rosenberg
BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg
Steve Rosenberg, 54, is a BBC Moscow correspondent who has been covering the Ukraine invasion from the Russian capital.
In recent days he has reported how the Echo of Moscow radio station was taken off air - just as it was during the coup against Gorbachev in August 1991.
'An attempt to isolate Russians from information about what’s really happening in Ukraine,' he tweeted.
In a video report, he also spoke to Russians 'who believe what state TV is telling them about Ukraine' - and to those who think they are being lied to and have decided to leave the country.
Mr Rosenberg graduated with a first class honours in Russian Studies from the University of Leeds in 1991, before spending 15 years in Moscow.
During that time he first worked with CBS as translator before becoming a an assistant producer.
He joined the BBC's Moscow Bureau in 1997, where he has remained ever since.
Caroline Davies
BBC Moscow correspondent Caroline Davies
Caroline Davies was a Business and Transport Correspondent for BBC London News before heading over to Moscow in January this year.
'Change of scene for next few months,' she tweeted alongside a selfie of her next to St Basil's cathedral.
'I start as BBC Moscow Correspondent alongside incredible @BBCSteveR and the great team here tomorrow.'
Ms Davies' latest report saw her visit a remote village in eastern Siberia - some 3,000 miles away from the front line, which is the home of a captured Russian soldier.
One resident told her: ‘I don’t support anything. Why are our younglings sent there?’
'Our BBC News service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia.
'The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs.
'I'd like to pay tribute to all of them, for their bravery, determination and professionalism.
'We remain committed to making accurate, independent information available to audiences around the world, including the millions of Russians who use our news services.
'Our journalists in Ukraine and around the world will continue to report on the invasion of Ukraine.'
Interim BBC News director Jonathan Munro tweeted: 'It’s with a heavy heart that we have had to suspend @BBCNews operations in Russia until we assess impact of new laws which outlaw independent journalism.
'Thoughts with colleagues in Moscow whose voices cannot be silenced for long.'
Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor 'limited' access to bbcrussian.com and bbcnews.com on Friday.
BBC Russia reports that it has been added to the register of mass media 'containing calls for riots, extremism and participation in illegal mass actions.'
Editors of the site had earlier received notices from Roskomnadzor demanding they remove materials, claiming they contained 'inaccurate, socially significant information distributed under the guise of reliable messages, which creates a threat of harm to life.'
Other foreign websites have also been blocked, including independent news website Meduza, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda.
BBC Director-general Tim Davie promised Friday to 'continue giving the Russian people access to the truth, however we can', as more shortwave frequencies to receive BBC radio in Ukraine were added.
'In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust,' he said.
The BBC has also published advice on how internet users can circumvent Russia's block - including using the Psiphon app.
It comes after UK watchdog Ofcom opened 27 investigations into the 'due impartiality' of programmes broadcast on the Kremlin-backed RT news channel, formerly known as Russia Today.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said RT should lose its licence and 'never again' be able to broadcast 'poisonous propaganda'.
However Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned on Monday that the BBC risked being banned in Russia if RT was shut down in the UK.
She also condemned the banning of Russian media RT and Sputnik globally, claiming the world was being deprived of Russia's point of view and Western media was only giving one side.
A BBC spokesman said today: 'Access to accurate, independent information is a fundamental human right which should not be denied to the people of Russia, millions of whom rely on BBC News every week.
'We will continue our efforts to make BBC News available in Russia, and across the rest of the world.'
The BBC has seen an increase in traffic to its Russian language news website since the invasion of Ukraine began.
It said the site's audience rose to a record 10.7 million people in the last week - more than triple its year-to-date weekly average.
The BBC has since published advice (pictured) on how internet users can circumvent Russia's block - including using the Psiphon app
Nadine Dorries said Russia Today, now known as RT, should lose its UK broadcasting licence (stock image)
Visitors to the English language bbc.com in Russia were up 252 per cent to 423,000 last week.
CNN has reported that the US arm of RT will be effectively shutting down while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced last weekend the channel would be banned in the EU.
Nadine Dorries appeared close to tears yesterday as she praised the courage of journalists 'risking their lives' to cover the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.
The Culture Secretary paid tribute to those braving Russian bombs to provide 'unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone' – in stark contrast to 'poisonous propaganda' from the Kremlin.
'We are on the side of free media,' she told the Commons. 'It was brilliant to see the audience for the BBC's Russian-language news site has gone up from 3.1million to 10.7million in the past week.
The Culture Secretary paid tribute to those braving Russian bombs to provide 'unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone' – in stark contrast to 'poisonous propaganda' from the Kremlin
'Despite his best efforts to censor reporting in Russia, Putin's own citizens are turning to factual, independent information in their millions.'
At times pausing to maintain her composure, she continued: 'At this point, I would just like to offer my heartfelt thanks and admiration to all those journalists working for the BBC, ITV and other news outlets who are risking their lives to bring us unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone.'
Miss Dorries – who has previously called for an end to the licence fee – stressed yesterday: 'I have always said the BBC is a great British global brand and it needs protecting. We need to review the funding model in order to protect the BBC... including the World Service.'
She went on to say Russia Today, now known as RT, should lose its UK broadcasting licence.
Media watchdog Ofcom has launched 27 investigations into the channel, which is now no longer available on Sky or Freeview.
Putin 'must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes', Miss Dorries vowed.
In Moscow, a foreign ministry spokesman claimed the BBC 'plays a determined role in undermining Russian stability and security'.
They claimed the only reason Russian journalists had not been banned from working in the UK was 'related to fears that the BBC might be targeted', adding: 'We haven't invented that... it stems from the British Foreign Secretary.'
Liz Truss had called for 'careful judgment' on RT earlier this week, warning that a ban in Britain could lead to Russia blocking the BBC in retaliation.
It comes as it was revealed today how Russia is targeting children with the message that its invasion of Ukraine is a disinformation campaign, releasing a 30-minute video with a child star to embellish the propaganda on Thursday.
The 12-year-old singing prodigy Sofia Khomenko (pictured left), sits next to ministry of education presenter Denis Polunchukov (pictured right) in a Kremlin propaganda video
The video was titled 'A lesson about world peace' and taught children about how Putin's 'special operation' in Ukraine were protecting Russians from Nazis
In the video obtained by The Daily Telegraph from the Ministry of Education, 12-year-old singing prodigy Sofia Khomenko tells child viewers 'we are going to have a lesson about world peace'.
She is joined by two male presenters who explain the truth behind the events in Ukraine, at least from the ministry of education's point of view.
Denis Polunchukov, the main presenter from the ministry, explained that many images circulating the web about the war in Ukraine are in fact from different conflicts.
Some images are even from computer games, he added, warning about the dangers of believing photos shared on social media.
The Kremlin has in the past used video game footage to claim the US was supporting ISIS in the Middle East, shortly before Russian troops entered the Syrian Civil War in 2017.
Satellite imagery captured by Maxar shows a large military convoy seen north of Kyiv which has not moved in the past three days, according to the UK Ministry of Defence
The air defense units of the Ukrainian Forces shot down another Russian Su-25 attack aircraft. The plane bombed civilian homes and civilian infrastructure.
Miss Khomenko asked bewildered questions to the two presenters, who assured her with recent-history lessons on how Nazis attacked Russian speakers and police during riots in Ukraine - a reference to the 2014 Maidan Revolution.
The attacks forced Russia to intervene in 2014, said the presenters, justifying the 2022 invasion by alleging that women and children in eastern Ukraine needed protection.
Polunchukov provided claims of rockets hitting a kindergarten, a column of tanks breaking down, or planes being shot out of the sky, as examples of misinformation on social media.
The video portrayed NATO as the aggressor, and the United States as a warmonger, according to the Telegraph.
He concluded by facing the camera, and telling the children directly:
'You are the heirs of our great country.'
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BBC vows to 'continue efforts' to give Russians access to its news output after website was blocked
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