Several foreign media decided to suspend their activities in Russia after the State Duma (Parliament) adopted a new law providing for a prison sentence for anyone who spreads "false information" about the army about its war in Ukraine, and the Kremlin on Saturday justified the "strictness" of the new law - which provides for Prison sentences of up to 15 years for publishing any news aimed at "discrediting" the army - referring to a "media war" targeting the country.

The Russian media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has also restricted access to the BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America since Friday.

Once the law was adopted, the BBC announced that it had "temporarily" suspended its journalists in Russia to ensure their "safety".

The head of the authority, Tim Davey, said Friday that this matter leaves no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC news journalists and their support teams within the Russian Federation, noting that the new legislation "criminalizes independent journalism."

Davey also emphasized that employee safety is "crucial";

Thus "we are not prepared to put them at risk of criminal prosecution just because they are doing their job."

He pointed out that the BBC will continue to provide reports in Russian from outside Russia, pointing out that the decision came after the great demand for BBC coverage, as he described it.

In this context, Bloomberg Agency editor-in-chief John Micklethwaite said in an article published on the website that his agency decided to temporarily suspend its work in collecting news in Russia, expressing his regret for that.

"The change in the criminal code - which appears to be aimed at turning any independent reporter into a criminal by pure association - makes it impossible to continue any form of normal journalism within the country," he added.

CNN said it would stop broadcasting in Russia, but it continues to assess the situation and its next step forward.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) also expressed its "grave concern" and suspended its activities, saying that this law "aims to criminalize impartial and impartial reporting of the current situation."


Safety of journalists

And the German channels "ARD" and "ZDF" decided Saturday to temporarily suspend their coverage from Moscow, until the "consequences" of the new Russian law "study".

They confirmed that they will continue to comprehensively inform the public of what is happening in Russia and Ukraine from other locations outside Russia.

It is noteworthy that "IRD" has been in Moscow since 1956.

In February, Deutsche Welle was banned in Russia and its correspondents were forced to stop working, and access to its Russian-language website was restricted by the Russian media regulator.

The Italian public television channel, Rai, also suspended the "press services" of its correspondents on Saturday in order to "protect the safety of journalists in the place and the maximum possible freedom of information."

The channel added that "information about what is happening in the Russian Federation will be provided at the present time on the basis of several sources for Rai journalists present in neighboring countries and in the central newsrooms in Italy."

Saturday, "Effie" followed the example of this media, as the first Spanish-language news agency in the world stated - in a statement published on its website - that it was the first time since 1970 - when Effie opened its permanent office in Moscow - that the agency was forced to suspend the activity of its accredited journalists in Russian capital.

"Effie deeply regrets this serious attack on freedom of expression, which is an apparent attempt by the Kremlin to hide the truth from public opinion," said agency chief Gabriela Canas.

And the Spanish public television channel announced on Saturday evening that it had temporarily stopped activity from Russia due to this same law, and the channel indicated that it wanted to continue to provide as much information as possible about the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and "analyzed" this unprecedented situation for journalists present at the scene. After the adoption of this law.

It should be noted that the Russian authorities blocked Facebook on Friday, and began restricting access to Twitter.

The prestigious Russian radio station "Echo of Moscow" announced its dissolution, and the independent TV channel "Dogd" announced the suspension of its activity, after blocking its websites.