After less than five months on the air in Latvia, the last independent Russian television station, TV Rain, has been shut down.
The channel, known in Russian as Dozhd, has been accused of broadcasting content supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a social media post, TV Rain referred to the accusations as “unfair and ludicrous.”
The transmission has been ordered to cease on December 8.
TV Rain claims it will comply with the decision but will keep its content on YouTube, where the majority of its audience sees it. However, it will no longer be permitted to transmit on Latvian cable television, where there is a substantial Russian-speaking population.
The media regulator in Latvia, the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP), stated that the decision to withdraw the license was made “because of concerns to national security and public order.
The regulator punished the channel €10,000 (£8,612; $10,488) earlier this month for broadcasting a map in which occupied Crimea was depicted as part of Russia’s territory.
It was also criticized for referring to the Russian army as “our army” in an article regarding recruiting supplies. Alexei Korostelyov, one of the broadcaster’s hosts, was sacked as a result.
Numerous opposition figures in Russia have criticized the move, arguing that TV Rain is an essential source of independent information about the war for Russian speakers.
“Putin is responsible for starting the war. There is a channel called TV Rain that presents the truth about Putin and the war. Putin is only helped by revoking TV Rain’s license “Alexei Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, made this statement.
The organization Reporters Without Borders termed the decision a “severe setback to press freedom.”
The station, which has long been critical of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, was blocked in Russia at the beginning of March, only days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Numerous employees subsequently escaped Russia and began reconstructing Dozhd abroad. It is one of several independent media organizations that have relocated to Latvia.
In May of this year, exiled journalists from the Russian daily Novaya Gazeta founded a new publication, while DW relocated its Moscow-based operations.
Since the Ukrainian conflict began in 2014, the news website Meduza has been based in Latvia.
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) has been conducting an investigation into the event at TV Rain and has previously issued warnings about the “many hazards posed by Russia’s so-called independent media shifting their operations to Latvia.”
These concerns, according to the VDD, include suspected ties between media figures and Russian intelligence and security services, as well as the threat posed if Moscow targeted Latvia as part of efforts to influence public opinion online and elsewhere.
Commenting on its decision to withdraw TV Rain’s broadcasting license, NEPLP stated that it was “convinced that TV Rain’s management did not comprehend the nature and gravity of any individual infraction nor any group of infractions.”
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters that “Some believe there is always a better location than home, where there is always more freedom. This is one of the most obvious illustrations demonstrating that these are false illusions “.
