Muratov’s research newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported last week that it was suspending its online and print activities until the end of what Russia calls a “special operation” in Ukraine following a second warning from the state communications regulator. Pictures published by the newspaper in the Telegram messaging app showed Muratov in red paint on his head and clothes and around his sleeping area on a Moscow-Samara train. “They poured acetone oil paint all over the apartment. The eyes were burning intensely,” the newspaper quoted Muratov as saying. “Muratov, this is for you one of our boys,” the striker’s post said.
Moscow’s pressure on the media
Pressure on liberal Russian media has grown since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February, with most of the mainstream media and state-controlled organizations sticking to the language the Kremlin uses to describe the conflict. Several opposition activists reported threatening messages painted on the doors of their apartments. Russia says its “special military operation” in Ukraine is necessary because the United States was using Ukraine to threaten Russia, and Moscow had to defend Russian-speaking people in Ukraine from persecution. Ukraine and critics in Russia have denied the Kremlin’s allegations of persecution, saying Russia is waging an unprovoked offensive war. NATO and other Western allies have imposed severe sanctions in an effort to put financial pressure on Russia to invade.
