Russian lawmakers approved a law that imposes jail sentences for those who publish so-called fake information regarding the country’s armed force.
Journalists and other individuals who spread untrue military information can face up to 15 years imprisonment under the law.
After being accused of reporting false information by officials, at least two independent media outlets were taken off air this week. This basically means anything not published by official Russian sources.
According to CBS News’ Mary Ilyushina, Moscow, the Kremlin won’t allow the fighting in Ukraine be called an invasion or war.
Russian state media closely controls the messages it broadcasts to Russians. This is Putin’s claim that this is an defensive operation to defend Russia against what he calls Ukrainian aggression.
The bombardment of Kyiv and Kharkiv by the state-run media was also not acknowledged by the media.
Many Russians see the truth and are walking on the streets.
According to a Russian rights organization, over 8,000 protesters were arrested in the country.
Russians still have access to some news sources from independent sources by going online using a virtual private networks, or VPN. This is what Ilyushina does, and many other journalists do the same. However, those who don’t know how do it are left with no complete picture of what’s happening in Ukraine.