Natalia Shideeva, founder of Dozhd TV, told the Independent that a draconian censorship law introduced last month had ruined any chances of the truth about the invasion of Ukraine reaching a large Russian audience. Shideva said that about 20 percent of the population of Russia already opposed to Putin still had ways to find out what was happening in Ukraine – but the rest were now completely absorbed in messages from state-controlled media. “These people are watching propaganda. “They have completely opposite plans, they believe it is Ukrainians who are bombing Mariupol, they believe that Ukrainians killed people in Bukha,” he said. “The problem is the public of state propaganda. We can not approach them and, to be honest, they have no requirement for independent information. “They are the majority of the people – they support the war, they support Putin, they facilitate it.” The Dozhd channel, founded in 2008, was forced to close in early March after the Kremlin pushed through a media censorship law punishing what it calls “false” information about the war with up to 15 years in prison. “The passage of this law has made it impossible to broadcast live on television on the Internet,” Sideeva said. “We could not report news about Ukraine, otherwise we would have to use only official sources of the Russian state, which do not give a real picture.” Sindeeva is at the center of a new documentary, F @ ck This Job – renamed Tango with Putin for her appearance on BBC iPlayer – about the prominent social worker’s efforts to run a truly independent TV channel that was willing to challenge the government of Putin. He hoped that Dozhd, also known as TV Rain, could combine serious news with “glamorous television”, creating an audience of young Russians eager for reform. But the war in Ukraine put an end to the regime’s reluctance to tolerate autonomous media. Dozhd staff were flooded with threatening emails and calls immediately after the invasion began, even before the censorship law made it impossible to continue. Despite the crackdown in March, a minority of Russians already opposed to Putin – some of whom have been arrested for protesting against the war – still have access to accurate information about Ukraine online. “The core of our audience knows how to use the VPN to open certain blocked sources or how to find our reporters or Ukrainian sources. “It’s our bubble,” Sideeva said. Dozhd is not the only independent media outlet that has been forced to stop reporting on the invasion. Novaya Gazeta suspended its activities until the end of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. The newspaper’s publisher, Dmitry Muratov, a winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, was attacked in Moscow earlier this week by someone who threw a mixture of red paint and acetone at him. Some who work for state-controlled media have paid the price for speaking out. Channel One news presenter Marina Ovsyannikova was arrested after shouting “Stop the war” on the air and is now facing charges of organizing an “unauthorized public event”. Campaign groups such as the Alexei Navalny Foundation’s Anti-Corruption Foundation hope that the overwhelming pressure of international sanctions could lead to the overthrow of the government. But Sindeeva is pessimistic about the idea that squeezing the Russian economy will lead significant numbers to turn against the president. He said the Russian public would be willing to “endure the hardships” caused by the collapsing economy. “At the moment, Putin’s propaganda paints the picture that deteriorating economic conditions are part of the West ‘s plan to weaken Russia. “In this way, the Russians can become even more united against this external enemy.” Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV (Movie Six Days) Vera Krichevskaya, a former network producer and director of Tango with Putin, has predicted that Putin will remain in power after 2036, the date his term is supposed to end. “Putin will be there now until the natural end of his life: 2036? 2045; “Dates do not matter now.” Sindeeva does not have much hope for democratic change in the coming years. “Right now, it’s hard to imagine reforms,” he said. But the former boss of the TV channel, who did not reveal her whereabouts, said many independent Russian journalists would find a way to keep working. “I’m sure it has a future,” she told the media company. “I am now actively exploring new options to continue reporting on what is happening in Russia. “I’m thinking about how to restart the project, but I can not give you details now.”
