Russia bans independent media from calling war in Ukraine a war

The Russian government on Saturday banned non-Kremlin-aligned media from using the term “war” to refer to the war in Ukraine. The approved expression is “special military operation in Donbass”.

According to Folhapress, this is how President Vladimir Putin defined the invasion, in a speech recorded and broadcast on television, in the early hours of Thursday (24). According to the speech of the Russian president, what motivated the action was the recognition of the areas of the river Don (Donbass) basin, which asked for military assistance against the alleged aggression by Kiev.

Although the multiple attacks on Ukraine extend beyond the Donbass region, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, released a statement to ten media outlets threatening blockade if they insist on using the terms war, attack or invasion. Fines of up to 5 million rubles (BRL 300,000) can be applied in case of non-compliance.

Other signs of control of communications on the streets of Moscow would be the slowdown of social network applications, through the signal of mobile operators. On Friday, Roskomnadzor had already announced limits to Facebook, alleging censorship of four media outlets in the country, including the state agency RIA-Novosti.