The BBC suspends the work of its journalists in Russia

Europe 1 with AFP 7:22 p.m., March 04, 2022

The BBC announced on Friday "temporarily" suspending the work of its journalists in Russia to ensure their "safety", after the adoption of a law providing for prison sentences in the event of the dissemination of "false information on the army". about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Believing that Moscow seemed to want to "criminalize independent journalism", director-general Tim Davie stressed in a press release that "this leaves no choice but to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists" and their collaborators on Russian territory.

"The safety of our teams is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their job", he added, praising their "courage, their determination and their professionalism".

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Tim Davie clarified that the BBC would continue to report in Russian from outside Russia.

In addition to this new law, the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has announced that it has restricted access to the BBC, German international radio and television Deutsche Welle (DW) and Voice of America.

Many Russians had turned to the BBC for information since the offensive in Ukraine.

Its Russian news site, already very popular, had seen its audience more than triple over one year, to 10.7 million on average weekly.

The number of visitors in Russia to the English site bbc.com jumped 252% to 423,000 last week, according to a BBC statement.