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Russian TV channel condemns war as staff walk out while live on air
Image source: Twitter video screenshot

Russian TV channel condemns war as staff walk out while live on air

Staff at an independent Russian television station signed off their final broadcast by decrying war and walking out of the studio in protest.

According to a report from Newsweek, Russian authorities ordered the station to cease broadcasting over its coverage of the country's invasion of Ukraine. The reported noted that Russian authorities demanded media refrain from referring to President Vladimir Putin's invasion as a "war" and instead insisted they use the term "special military operation." Those in violation of the newly authorized law face up to 15 years in prison.

What are the details?

Station staffers signed off their final show on Thursday and walked out of the studio

"No to war," Natalia Sindeyeva, the station's general director, said on Thursday as staff left the studio and made the decision to air Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake," which according to the report, "was aired on Soviet state TV during the collapse of the Soviet Union."

"We need strength to exhale and understand how to work further," Sindeyeva said in a statement shared on the channel's website. "We really hope that we will return to the air and continue our work."

Ukraine News UK tweeted video footage of the walkout and captioned it, "The Entire staff of the Russian TV channel 'the rain' resigned during a live stream with last words: 'no war' and then played 'swan lake' ballet video (just like they did on all USSR tv channels when it suddenly collapsed)."

What else is there to know about this?

Independent Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy this week also shut down.

"The Ekho Moskvy board of directors has decided by a majority of votes to liquidate the radio channel and the website of Ekho Moskvy," editor in chief Alexei Venediktov said in a statement on the closure.

Russia's prosecutor general in a statement said that such "fake news" — or "information known to be false regarding the actions of Russian servicemen" as "part of a special operation to protect the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic" is illegal and will not be tolerated.

The statement added that accused outlets were guilty of spreading information calling for "extremism, violence against citizens of the Russian Federation, mass violations of public order and public security."

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