Russia's media regulator has placed the Russian-language websites of three of RFE/RL's Central Asian broadcast services on its rapidly growing list of banned sites, a move condemned by RFE/RL President Jamie Fly.
The fresh ban comes as a Russian media and information clampdown intensifies amid the month-old war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin-led restrictions have targeted both domestic and international media outlets covering the invasion.
The independent Russian media outlet Mediazona cited watchdog Rozkomnadzor's listing of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service (Radio Azattyq), Tajik Service (Radio Ozodi), and Turkmen Service (Radio Azatlyk) as banned sites.
The blocks were said to be effective from March 26.
“RFE/RL’s Russian language websites for Central Asian audiences play an important role in providing news and information to Russian speakers in Central Asia and those from the region who may be working and living in Russia. They are now affected by the Kremlin’s outrageous effort to censor all independent information regarding the disastrous war in Ukraine. We will not censor our content and we will continue to tell our audiences the truth in all of our 27 languages,” Fly said in a statement.
Mediazona was itself blocked in Russia earlier this month and ordered to close down, as have been numerous media outlets that had previously withstood decades of consolidation and restrictions under Putin's rule.
SEE ALSO: 'We Will Not Comply:' RFE/RL Rejects Russian Media Regulator's Demand To Remove ContentMultiple other websites of RFE/RL, BBC, and other outlets have been blocked over what Russian regulators say is erroneous reports, meaning they did not follow the government line, which includes a ban on calling Moscow's actions in Ukraine an invasion or a war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to justify the invasion as a campaign to "de-militarize" and, echoing previous false claims against Kyiv's democratically elected government, "de-Nazify" its post-Soviet neighbor.
New Russian laws and other measures passed and enacted since the invasion began on February 24 have criminalized distributing allegedly "false information" about the military, diplomatic missions, and state bodies, as well as limited coverage to officially sourced information on what the Kremlin officially calls a "special military operation."
Several major international broadcasters that have announced suspensions include BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS, German ARD and ZDF to suspend reporting from inside Russia. The BBC and ARD have since reopened.
On March 27, Russian news agency Interfax said Roskomnadzor had restricted access to German tabloid Bild's website after a request by prosecutors.
Roskomnadzor has also blocked some social-media platforms.
SEE ALSO: Russian Instagrammers Face Uncertain Future As Government Tightens Control Over Social MediaOn March 21, a Moscow court ruled that Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms is an "extremist organization."