Russian President Vladimir Putin has successfully dismantled the last of the country's free press in an attempt to control what his people see in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war that has been raging for more than a week.
The pillars of the country's independent broadcast media collapsed on Thursday under pressure from the state. The freewheeling radio station founded by Soviet dissidents in 1990, Echo of Moscow, symbolized Russia's new freedom and was "liquidated" by its board.
Putin's Battle Against the Free Press
Furthermore, the youthful independent television station, TV Rain, which called itself "the optimistic channel," said that it was suspending operations indefinitely. Journalist Dmitri Muratov, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said that his newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, which had previously survived after six of its journalists were murdered, is on the verge of closing down as well.
Muratov argued that Russian authorities were taking down anything that was not propaganda. The situation is part of plans by the Russian Parliament to take up legislation on Friday that would make news that they consider "fakes" about Moscow's war in Ukraine punishable by yearslong prison sentences, as per the New York Times.
The move comes as Russian residents struggle to understand what is really happening in Ukraine and what their leaders are trying to accomplish. Tasya, a 19-year-old who asked not to be named by her last name, stood with her friends on a cold morning in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
The teenagers stood with other protesters and chanted against Moscow's use of violent force against Ukraine. She said that it was safer to stand together with others who would help you look over your shoulder in case you needed to run. However, she said that after a while, her friends left the protest to go home or warm up someplace else, leaving her all alone in the street.
According to CNN, citing the Feb. 24 protest in St. Petersburg, Tasya said that a group of police officers later walked past her with one suddenly looking at her, approached, and detained her. Demonstrations continue across several regions in Russia as young citizens, middle-aged residents, and retired citizens decry Putin's actions.
Surrender of Soldiers
On top of resistance from Ukrainians and his own civilians, Putin is facing off against some members of his military. Some soldiers have begun sabotaging their own vehicles and surrendering in droves, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Officials said that not all of the military troops were fully trained and prepared for the war and some were not even aware that they were being sent into a combat operation, said one senior Defense Department official.
British intelligence firm, Shadowbreak, intercepted radio clips that captured the sounds of Russian troops crying in combat, refusing to obey orders, and complaining of supply shortages. Some soldiers even claimed that they had no idea what to expect in their invasion of Ukraine.
A separate recording seems to show a soldier refusing to fire artillery on an area until all Ukrainian civilians had left the site. The situation helped to slow the advances of Russian forces, including the infamous 40-mile long convoy of tanks and armored vehicles near the Ukrainian capital, the New York Post reported.
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