Banned Russian investigative news outlet says it won’t be silenced

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) – Russian investigative news agency Proekt said Friday it would shut down a US-registered legal entity one day after the Russian authorities banned it, but it would find a way to conduct its investigation against the Russian elite to continue.

The Russian authorities declared Proekt an “undesirable” organization on Thursday for reasons of national security. Continue reading

The move was part of a broader pre-election campaign in September against media deemed hostile and overseas supported by the authorities. Proekt has published a number of well-researched and unflattering studies of Russia’s ruling elite.

“Project Media, Inc., registered in the United States, will be liquidated and will no longer have any financial ties with journalists who work in Russia,” Proekt said in a statement posted on social media.

“As journalists, however, we continue to believe that our work is important and needed by our mother country. We will announce separately in what form our journalist collective will continue its work,” the statement said.

The shutdown and the authorities’ crackdown on the news agency would not lead to less journalistic investigations with a focus on Russia, said Proekt, who has promised to release an important new disclosure next week.

The Russian authorities also called eight journalists “foreign agents” on Thursday, including reporters from Proekt and Open Media.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the label “foreign agent” does not mean a work ban.

“They can continue their work, continue their activities. That is not the same as a work ban,” Peskov told reporters.

Journalists who have received such a designation in the past have complained that they are required to attach a long disclaimer to every social media post explaining their status and detailed financial reports every few months on their income and expenses with the Justice Department must submit.

Denying the media crackdown on, the Kremlin has described Russia’s media market as buoyant with many different outlets.

Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Alexander Marrow and Anastasia Lyrchikova; Editing by Andrew Osborn

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