Several Russian online newspapers have been forced to take down a list of the country’s military personnel killed in Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine after a court ruled the information was banned from being distributed.
The online publications 74.RU, NGS24.RU, NGS55.RU, 93.RU, 63.RU,NGS.RU, and E1.RU issued statements on June 6 saying they had to remove the list due to a ruling by the Svetlogorsk city court in Russia's far western Kaliningrad exclave.
The move was initiated by the military prosecutor's office of the Baltic Fleet's garrison after the list appeared online.
The court justified the decision by saying that "revealing the number of military losses during a war or special military operation in a peaceful period" can be classified as revealing military secrets, which could be considered a crime.
The exact number of Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine since February 24, the first day of Russia's war against its neighbor, remains unknown.
Russian authorities last commented officially on the toll on March 25, when they said 1,351 soldiers and officers had died in what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials claim close to 30,000 Russian military personnel have been killed and wounded since the invasion started.
More than 14 million people in Ukraine have fled their homes because of the war.