Vladimir Putin's main weapon is control of the Russian worldview, in which attack becomes defense and the President was forced to launch his "special operation."

The more victims the war claims, the more important this control becomes.

In addition to the de facto military censorship introduced last March, there is now a blow to the most important independent Russian-language medium, "Medusa": The Attorney General's Office has classified its Latvian operating company as "undesirable".

This threatens employees and support workers of "Medusa" with imprisonment in camps, including donors who support the correspondingly financed project.

Also, anyone who has merely disseminated or disseminated links to the website, Meduza.io, runs the risk of being prosecuted.

Frederick Smith

Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.

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Since last year, "Medusa" in Russia can only be accessed via VPN, like numerous other websites, which is why those in power are waging a tough fight against the providers of such services.

“Medusa” had already been classified as a “foreign agent” in April 2021;

this is the first level of the Moscow persecution scale.

In general, the medium illustrates the downward spiral of Russia's independent journalism: the founder and general director of "Medusa", Galina Timtschenko, was editor-in-chief of "Lenta.ru" for ten years and built this news portal into the leading independent provider at the time.

Until spring 2014: The owner fired Timchenko for reporting on the Ukraine conflict.

With her severance pay, investors and a good part of the staff of "Lenta.ru" she founded "Medusa" in autumn 2014 with headquarters in the Latvian capital Riga.

In addition to concise and factual news, "Medusa" offers reports, analyses, entertainment and podcasts.

That's what the medium calls the Ukraine war and reports on the destruction and deaths.

The editors promise to keep going

The Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday that the activities of "Medusa" pose "a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security" of Russia.

The Ministry of Justice has now included the operating company in its register of "undesirable organizations".

According to this, connections to "Medusa" initially constitute administrative offences, and in the case of repetition, criminal offenses that can be punished with camp imprisonment.

Since last spring, "Medusa" has stopped accepting payments with Russian cards, so it hopes that its donors will be protected.

The portal and media lawyers are advising readers to delete all links to "Medusa" material, even if it has long been emblazoned on social media profiles.

"Medusa" is the fourth Russian-language medium to be effectively banned as "undesirable".

It previously hit investigative media outlets Projekt (July 2021), Vashnye Istorii (Major Stories, March 2022) and The Insider (July 2022).

The international research projects "OCCRP" and "Bellingcat" have also been effectively banned in Russia since last year.

One fears for one's readers, employees, relatives and friends, said "Medusa" now.

"Nevertheless, we believe in what we do", in "freedom of speech", in a "democratic Russia".

The greater the pressure, the stronger one will resist.

The editors promised to continue working and appealed to their readers to overcome any fears: "Russia will be free." At first, however, it can be assumed that the new blow against "Medusa" will be followed by others against other media.

Because numerous others had already followed his classification as an “agent”.