Moscow, 25 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - In response to the ban on broadcasting several Russian media in Europe, Russia has blacklisted 81 European media companies.

Broadcasting of the programmes and access to the media's websites will be blocked, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on its website on Tuesday.

The German media affected include news magazine Der Spiegel, Die Zeit weekly and the daily broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In Austria, the public broadcaster ORF and the Austrian Media Group were affected. The Franco-German broadcaster Arte is also on the ban list.

With a total of nine listed companies, France is the EU country most heavily sanctioned by Moscow.

In May, the European Union states imposed sanctions on the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti, the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Gazette), the Voice of Europe platform and the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia (The News), which also owns a television station. This means that they will be blocked throughout the EU.

According to the EU member states, however, the media and their employees may continue to work in the EU. The ban came into force on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow offered a two-fold justification for the ban: It is in reaction to the EU measure but also because it alleges the dissemination of false reports about Russia's war against Ukraine.

Should the EU lift the restrictions against the Russian media, Moscow would also be prepared to consider lifting the blockade.

In Russia, many media outlets that report critically on Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies and thousands of websites are blocked on the internet.

Like the blocked European media, they are only accessible with the help of a virtual private network (VPN) server, a network connection that cannot be viewed from outside and with which users can change their location online.

Many journalists are in prison in Russia for allegedly discrediting the Russian army.

The trial of journalist Evan Gershkovich from the US daily the Wall Street Journal for alleged espionage is set to begin on Wednesday. Gershkovich is accused of spying for the CIA, the US intelligence service - a charge he, the US government and the newspaper have denied.

Photo: MIA Archive