It’s unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin expected the sanctions that followed his invasion of Ukraine. But their severity could have far-reaching economic consequences for Russia. Oksana Bedratenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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Following moves by tech companies and the EU to reduce the visibility of Russian state media site RT, the network says it will begin streaming its content on a YouTube-like platform called Rumble.

“RT gets ready to… Rumble: After a multitude of platforms have moved to knock out our broadcast and limit social media…,” RT wrote in a Thursday tweet.

According to a statement on the Rumble website, the company “was built on the belief that all creators should have the opportunity to freely express themselves and reach their followers without censorship or restrictions.”

As of Thursday, the RT livestream in English was still functioning on YouTube in the United States.

On February 27, the European Union announced it was “banning Russia Today and Sputnik from broadcasting in the Union.” YouTube reportedly also blocked RT in the EU.

Twitter announced Monday that it will start labeling and making it harder for users to see tweets about the invasion of Ukraine that contain information from Russian state media like RT and Sputnik.

Facebook has similar measures.

A popular streaming service called Roku removed the RT channel from its channel store in Europe, Reuters reported.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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The United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees said Thursday that one million people have fled Ukraine in the past week alone, one of the fastest and largest mass exoduses of people in conflict situations in decades.  

“Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country,” Filippo Grandi said in a statement. “And unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine.”

Intensification of the Russian offensive has seen multiple cities across the country come under air and ground attack in the past week. Russian tanks and armored vehicles are continuing to roll through the country threatening several large cities.

Grandi told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that he had not seen “such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people – the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.”

He said unless there is an immediate halt to the conflict, people will continue to flee.

“We are currently planning – repeat: planning – for up to four million refugees in the coming days and weeks,” Grandi said Monday.

When he briefed the council on Monday, he said more than 280,000 people had fled to Poland alone. As of Wednesday, UNHCR said the number had nearly doubled to 547,982 people.

Numbers of refugees are also rising quickly in Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania and other European countries. Nearly 50,000 people, primarily from eastern Ukraine, have also sought refuge in Russia.

The U.N. Children’s agency, UNICEF, says half of those fleeing the country are children.

The U.N. appealed Tuesday for $1.7 billion to meet emergency needs inside and in neighboring countries for the next three months. Nations stepped up immediately with $1.5 billion in pledges. UNHCR hopes to assist 2.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers with money from the appeal.

The United States announced $54 million in new humanitarian funding last week for Ukrainians.  

“They are fleeing increasingly violent and widespread strikes by Russian forces against residential areas and infrastructure – from the shelling of hospitals and kindergartens to rockets targeting central city squares,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. “The human toll of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable attack against its sovereign neighbor is growing exponentially each day.”
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Ekho Moskvy radio station, one of Russia’s last remaining liberal media outlets, has been dissolved by its board after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine, its editor said on Thursday.

The station, one of the leading news and current affairs channels in Russia, had been taken off the air on Tuesday though it appeared still to be broadcasting on YouTube after the board’s decision was announced.

Ekho Moskvy’s disappearance from the airwaves dealt another blow to independent media in Russia after years of intensifying pressure from the authorities.

“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 on the messaging app Telegram.

Venediktov told Reuters this week that the station would not abandon the independent editorial line that has been its hallmark for three decades, declaring: “Our editorial policies won’t change.”

The board’s decision came after the prosecutor general’s office demanded this week that access be restricted to Ekho Moskvy and the TV Rain online news channel over their coverage of the conflict.

The prosecutor said its move was prompted by their websites’ “targeted and systematic posting … of information calling for extremist activities, violence and deliberately false information about the actions of Russian forces as part of a special operation” in Ukraine.

Russia rejects the term invasion, and says its actions are not designed to occupy territory but to destroy Ukraine’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists — a pretext rejected by Ukraine and the West as baseless propaganda.

Ekho Moskvy said on Tuesday that the accusations against it were baseless and offensive, and it would fight them in the courts.

Pressure on journalists

Russian journalists have faced an increasingly difficult environment in recent years, with many being designated by the authorities as “foreign agents,” a status that snares them in official paperwork and exposes them to public contempt.

Pressure has mounted since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, with most mainstream media outlets and state-controlled organizations sticking closely to language used by the Kremlin to describe the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment directly on the situation at Ekho Moskvy, saying the decision to close had been taken by its board of directors.

“The radio station violated the law. The right of the prosecutor general’s office to take appropriate measures was used,” he told a briefing.

Asked if Ekho Moskvy could resume operations in the future, Peskov said that was up to the station’s owners.
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Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred on Thursday from the Winter Paralympics in Beijing on the eve of the Games following threats of boycotts by other teams over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said.

Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion, which was launched a week ago.

The decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate as neutrals, saying that the governing body had followed its rules and that “athletes were not the aggressors.”

But that decision led to an outcry and threats from other countries’ National Paralympic Committees (NPC) to boycott the Games, IPC President Andrew Parsons told a news conference in Beijing.

“They told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Winter Games,” Parsons said.

“Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.”

Parsons said it was clear the situation put his organization in a “unique and impossible position” so close to the start of the Games, adding that an overwhelming number of members had been in touch and been forthright in their objections to Russia and Belarus taking part.

A 71-member Russian contingent and 12-member team from Belarus are already in Beijing for the Games, which begin on Friday.

Parsons said the Russian and Belarusian athletes were victims of the actions of their governments.

“Athlete welfare will always be a priority for us,” he said.

“If Russian and Belarusian athletes stayed in Beijing, nations were likely to withdraw, and a viable Games would not have been possible.

“The atmosphere in the Games village is not pleasant. The situation there is escalating and has now become untenable … The Games are not only about gold, silver and bronze, but also about sending a strong message of inclusion.”

Parsons said the IPC was likely to face legal consequences but was confident that the right decision had been made.

The IPC said earlier in a statement that following a specially convened meeting, its Governing Board has decided not to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part.
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Ukraine marked one week since Russia invaded the country Thursday, as Russian forces shelled major cities and the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine exceeded 1 million people.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday they all remained in Ukrainian hands.  Unclear was the status of Kherson, with Russian troops present in the city amid disputed claims of who was in control.

“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. “They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.”

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited expectations ahead of the invasion that Russia would quickly overtake Ukraine, writing on Facebook, “No one, neither in Russia nor in the West, believed that we would last a week.”  He added that while there are challenges ahead, Ukraine has “every reason to be confident.”

Thursday also brought the expectation of a second round of peace talks between the two sides, though there has been little sign of a potential breakthrough.  An initial meeting Monday yielded only plans for further talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation, but that Russia must first de-escalate.

“It’s much more difficult for diplomacy to succeed when guns are firing and tanks are rolling,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Blinken is traveling to Europe on Thursday for a series of meetings with NATO and other allies about their response to the Russian invasion.  NATO foreign ministers are holding an extraordinary meeting Friday in Brussels, and on Saturday Blinken travels on to Poland to discuss further security and humanitarian assistance to help refugees who have fled Ukraine.

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.  The U.N. body has said it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine due to the conflict.

Ukraine’s emergency agency said Wednesday Russia’s attacks have killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russia’s Defense Ministry put out its first casualties report, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others were wounded.

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday Russian forces trying to take the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, were “stalled outside the city center.”

The forces, including a massive Russian convoy, have made “no appreciable movement,” the official said, adding Russian advances on other key cities, such as Chernihiv and Kharkiv had also stalled.

Meanwhile, shipments of defensive aid for Ukraine continued to arrive, according to U.S. officials.

The Pentagon on Wednesday also expressed concerns that Russian forces are getting more aggressive in their targeting, putting civilians and civilian infrastructure in greater danger.

The senior defense official said the U.S. believes that since the invasion began last Thursday, Russia has launched more than 450 missiles, but that Ukraine’s air and missile defense systems remain viable. 

The official said the lack of Russian progress around Kyiv, despite its superior firepower, could be attributed to factors including shortages of fuel and food, and a spirited defense by Ukrainian forces.

“It has slowed because of resistance from the Ukrainians that has been effective and quite creative,” the official said. “They have marshaled their assets quite well. … The will to fight is very strong, in terms of their armed forces but also in terms of their civilian population.”

“We also believe they [Russia] have had morale problems that has led to less than effective operational success,” the official added, cautioning that U.S. intelligence expects Russian forces will adapt in order to continue with the massive assault.

The Pentagon also announced that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week. The decision comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Kirby added that the United States would like to see Moscow reciprocate by “taking the temperature down” in the crisis over Ukraine.

Another factor that may be helping the Ukrainians is continued support from NATO and the United States.

Blinken said Wednesday the United States is imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia’s defense sector.

“In total, 22 Russian defense-related entities will be designated, including companies that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems – the very systems now being used to assault the Ukrainian people, abuse human rights, violate international humanitarian law,” Blinken said during a news conference.

Blinken said the United States would also “choke off Belarus’ ability to import key technologies” by imposing export controls on Belarus “to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for being a co-belligerent in President [Vladimir] Putin’s war of choice.”

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, correspondent Jamie Dettmer, Islamabad Bureau Chief Heather Murdock and White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press,  Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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One week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces continue their push despite condemnation from the United Nations General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.
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Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine   
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Moscow’s media regulator threatened on Wednesday to block access to VOA’s Russian news network.

In a notice sent to VOA, the regulator Roskomnadzor said that the network’s Russian-language site had 24 hours to remove content that Moscow deems “illegal” or be blocked.

In another sign of the importance all sides attach to how the war is reported to their publics, the European Union announced Wednesday a ban on broadcasts and websites affiliated with Russian state-funded media outlets RT and Sputnik for spreading disinformation.

VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lopez said the network was aware of the media regulator’s order but could not comply.

“This kind of accurate, credible journalism is the reason why our audience in Russia engages with VOA. We find any attempts to interfere with the free flow of information deeply troubling and consider this order in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies,” Lopez said in a statement.

“The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press and, therefore, we cannot comply with the Roskomnadzor’s request,” she added.

The VOA news website is one of a dozen media outlets to be blocked or threatened with fines by Roskomnadzor since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Most warnings relate to content that Moscow deems to be false or that gives information about troops and casualties.

Current Time, a daily news show produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in partnership with VOA, and RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities were blocked on Sunday.

RFE/RL and VOA are independent, taxpayer-funded networks under the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor removed the independent broadcasters TV Dozhd and Ekho Moskvy from the airwaves.

Ekho Moskvy’s chief editor, Alexei Venediktov, said the station would contest the regulator’s decision in court, The Associated Press reported.

“We see a political component in it, as well as the introduction of censorship, which is directly prohibited by the Russian Constitution,” Venediktov said.

The regulator’s warning to VOA came on the same day that the European Union said it would ban Russian state media including Sputnik and RT. EU operators will be banned from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of content from Sputnik and RT.

“Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

Social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube said they would comply with the ban.

Roskomnadzor on Wednesday appealed to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, to lift restrictions on the Rossiya Segodnya group that oversees Sputnik and RT.

In a statement, the regulator said the restrictions prevented internet users from accessing “independent sources and aim to create distorted perception of the events.”

Media solidarity

The international community and media watchdogs have condemned attempts by Russia’s media regulator to censor or restrict independent reporting on the war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, Teresa Ribeiro, media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, called on Russia to “safeguard the free flow of information and media freedom in line with OSCE commitments and international obligations.”

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) described Roskomnadzor’s actions against Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd TV as concerning, saying their “news and information services have been essential for Russian citizens.”

“The AIB stands in solidarity with all journalists and media colleagues who are bringing essential news and information from Ukraine to audiences in the country and around the world,” AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick told VOA via email. “It is essential that they are allowed to work unhindered and without threat to them and their families.”

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also decried Moscow’s attempts to block news.

“Russian authorities’ restricting of social media platforms and independent media outlets is clear censorship and undermines the free flow of information,” CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said Tuesday.

VOA’s Russian-language service is a 24/7 TV and digital news network aimed audiences in Russia, where access to independent news is limited.
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China is positioning itself as a mediator between war-divided Russia and Ukraine so as to be seen as a global leader and earn points in the West, analysts say.

At Ukraine’s request, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked by phone Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ukraine is “open to a negotiated settlement” with Russia, Xinhua reported. Kuleba said his country “stands ready to strengthen communication with the Chinese side and looks forward to China’s mediation in achieving a cease-fire,” the report said.

Helping to stop the war would make China seem more intent on establishing peace in Europe than on maintaining its post-Cold War friendship with Russia, which is unpopular in the West, experts say.

A mediation attempt, they say, would also divert international attention from China’s controversial goal of unifying with self-ruled Taiwan. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has not ruled out using force, if needed, to capture it.

Any effort to stop the Ukraine war “improves China’s position from being just a passive actor to showing some leadership role,” said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“The longer it [China] stays quiet, the more it undermines the already hard work that China has put in to portray itself as a responsible global leader,” he said.

Western leaders have described China as an expanding military power in Asia and a threat to Taiwan, which is a democracy with strong support in Europe and North America. China has the world’s largest population, at 1.4 billion; second-biggest economy, at $18.1 trillion; and the third-strongest armed forces after the United States and Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last year that China would never “invade or bully others, or seek hegemony,” Xinhua reported.

When asked about Ukraine at a news conference last month, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said that respect for the sovereignty of all countries was China’s “consistent and principled position.”

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate that China is not a revisionist power, that it respects international law, respects sovereignty. And if that was the case, then China would likely take a much stronger position on the Ukraine,” said Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo.

Successful mediation would particularly help China “win kudos with Europe,” Thayer said. That relationship, he said, could lead to more pan-Eurasian trade. In 2020, China was the third-largest partner for European Union exports and the largest partner for EU imports.

Before the call between foreign ministers, China had avoided siding openly with Russia regarding its invasion of Ukraine despite its long, deepening friendship with Moscow. Russia is a former Cold War ally of China and was the anchor of the former communist-run Soviet Union.

China shuns the word “invasion” in describing the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But it did not join Russia in vetoing a U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the attack. Its U.N. ambassador has suggested that Ukraine form a “bridge” between the East and West

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday lamented the spread of “jokes of bad taste” about the war in “some ill-intentioned media.”

Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities Wednesday as both sides indicated a willingness to resume talks aimed at ending the war.

Ukrainian authorities say the attacks have killed more than 2,000 people in homes, hospitals and kindergartens.
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Following a spate of real-world bans of Russian athletes from international competition over the country’s invasion of Ukraine, a popular video game company said Wednesday it would start removing Russian teams from some of its most popular products.

EA Sports, which makes popular soccer and hockey video games, said it has “initiated processes” to remove the Russian national team and Russian clubs from its products.

“In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online,” the company said in a statement. “We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games.”

The company added that it stands “in solidarity” with the Ukrainian people and called for an end to the invasion.

According to the British newspaper The Mirror, there are three Russian club soccer teams in the FIFA 22 game, including CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Spartak Moscow. 

The Russian men’s national soccer team is also available for video game players to choose.

Following Russia’s invasion, many sports federations, including soccer, ice skating, tennis and others, banned or barred Russian athletes from competing using the national flag at competitions.
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With the threat of financial sanctions looming, Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirmed Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment.

The speed of Abramovich’s pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend to relinquish some control in order to keep the club under his ownership.

But as Russia’s war on Ukraine entered a seventh day, pressure was growing on the British government to include him among the wealthy Russians to be targeted in sanctions.

“In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club’s sponsors and partners,” Abramovich said in a statement.

Abramovich said he will not be asking to be repaid 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in loans he has granted the club during 19 years of injecting cash to elevate the team into one of the most successful in Europe. The Blues won the Club World Cup for the first time last month — in front of Abramovich in Abu Dhabi — after securing a second Champions League title last year.

“I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated,” he said. “The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”
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As Spanish Catholics prepare to give up meat on Fridays as part of the holy season of Lent, a government minister sparked a political row after suggesting eating less meat would be a good idea.

Spain is Europe’s biggest exporter of ham and jamón as it is known in Spanish, is a national gastronomic icon, along with paella or Rioja wine.

So, when Spain’s consumer affairs minister, Alberto Garzón, recently suggested eating less meat would help combat climate change and that said industrial farms could cause pollution, it prompted a fiery national debate about farming methods.

He voiced support for traditional livestock farming methods in which cattle or pigs are allowed to graze.

“That is sustainable; what isn’t sustainable is these so-called mega farms,” Garzón said in an interview with The Guardian, a British newspaper.

“They find a village in a depopulated bit of Spain and put in 4,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 head of cattle. They pollute the soil; they pollute the water and then they export this poor-quality meat from these ill-treated animals.”

The main opposition conservative People’s Party seized on the dispute to try to win over disaffected voters in rural areas.

Pablo Casado, leader of the People’s Party, said in a speech earlier in February  that voters needed “more farming and less communism” – a reference to Garzón’s membership of the far-left United Left party which was linked to the Communist Party.

The dispute created a breech in Spain’s coalition government between the moderate the center-left Socialists and their junior partners, the far-left Unidas Podemos.

Spain’s government said last week that mega farms, which contain more than 10,000 animals, made up only 0.016% of all farms in the country.

Anger

As the debate heated up, angry farmers who were new seeking licenses to open new farms in Lorca, in Murcia, southeastern Spain, stormed the local council last month. Seven were charged with public order offenses and will stand trial later this year.

In Lorca there are 2,040 farms, of which 663 are pork farms, the city council said.

Another town in the Murcia region is Jumilla where 16 pig farms house 240,000 animals, according to the environmental group Save Our Land, or SOL.

The group’s Cati Rodriguez claimed that waste from the animals passes into the local water supply and contaminates the drinking water supply.

“We get our water supply from aquifers but there are such high levels of animal waste that it passes into the water supply. Tests carried out with Greenpeace last year found the level of nitrates was 50% per liter which is above the safe level for human consumption,” she told VOA.

She said the problem was not limited to Jumilla but existed across Spain.

VOA contacted Cefusa, which is responsible for the farms in Jumilla. A spokesperson, who asked not to be named in accordance with company policy, said Cefusa strictly complies with current environmental legislation. “We have adapted our facilities and our production model to the requirements established in the different environmental prevention regulations applicable at the regional, national and European levels in recent years,” the spokesperson said.

In the neighboring region of Castilla la Mancha, home to Miguel de Cervantes’ famously errant knight Don Quixote, there are 1.7 million pigs, according to Spanish government figures.

Emiliano Garcia-Page, the Socialist regional president, has insisted that despite criticism from environmentalists, conditions in large industrial farms comply with European Union health and safety regulations.

As if to prove his point, he invited Garzón to visit a farm.

“When you know how (these farms) work from the inside and how the agri-food industry works, you will see Spain has extraordinary levels of quality and guarantees. Otherwise, you are going to spend your life without being able to order a sausage or a steak,” he said.

Jamón not only holds a symbolic position in society but in economic terms, it is the country’s second most important agricultural export after fruit and vegetables.

In 2020, meat brought $6.09 billion in revenue compared with $7.88 billion from fruit and vegetables.

Germany had long been the largest producer of pork in the European Union but an outbreak of African Swine Fever in 2020 meant Spain took over as the largest exporter to the lucrative Chinese market.

There are several types of Spanish ham which is produced in different ways.

At the top end of the market is jamón iberico de bellota, which is made from black pigs. They are allowed to graze for years in meadows and are fed on acorns and herbs.

Jamón iberico de cebo is made from animals who are fed on animal fodder and cereals. Both are regarded as delicacies as well as jamón serrano.

Processed ham is generally produced in industrial-scale farms in which hundreds, or thousands of animals are kept.

Changing attitudes

Attitudes towards the way animals are treated are changing in Spain.

A survey published in January by the BBVA Foundation, associated with Spain’s second largest bank, found most Spaniards polled reject their use in circuses, bullfights and for use to research cosmetics.

Eight out of ten people said they considered animals should be respected, in the survey of 2,000 people.

Animal rights organizations have carried out a series of high-profile undercover investigations to expose alleged abuse of animals on farms.

The directors of Los Hermanos Carrasco, the company which controls a pig farm in Totana, in Murcia, are to stand trial accused of alleged animal cruelty and offenses against public health after an investigation by Igualdad Animal. They deny the allegations.
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Russian state-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik will be banned in the European Union with immediate effect for systematic disinformation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 27-country bloc said on Wednesday in an unprecedented move.

The sanction means EU operators will be prohibited from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of any RT and Sputnik content.

Broadcasting licenses or authorization, transmission and distribution arrangements between the two companies and their EU counterparts will also be suspended.

The ban applies to RT’s English unit and operations in Britain, Germany, France and Spain.

“Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. “It is also a significant and direct threat to the Union’s public order and security.”

Facebook owner Meta FB.O, Alphabet Inc’s Google GOOGL.O, YouTube and TikTok are already blocking access to RT and Sputnik in the EU. Twitter TWTR.N has said it will comply with the EU ban.
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In his first State of the Union address, U.S. President Joe Biden touted his success in uniting much of the world against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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In his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, U.S. President Joe Biden touted his success in uniting much of the world against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden said Ukraine is on the front line of the global battle between democracies and autocracies, and that democracy will prevail.

With Putin ratcheting up attacks on major Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv and Kyiv, Biden stood in the House chamber and told Americans the free world is united against Putin’s aggression.

“The free world is holding him accountable,” Biden said. “Along with 27 members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and many others, even Switzerland are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been.”

Biden said Putin badly miscalculated when he launched a full-scale invasion of his neighbor, meeting “a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined” instead of a world that would “roll over.”

“He thought he could divide us at home in this chamber and this nation. He thought he could divide us in Europe as well, but Putin was wrong. We are ready, we are united, and that’s what we did,” Biden said.

The U.S. leader listed some of the major actions the United States and other governments have taken in response to Russia’s invasion, including sanctions against the country’s financial system, a new U.S. Justice Department task force targeting Russian oligarchs, a ban on Russian flights within U.S. air space and direct support to Ukraine in the form of military, economic and humanitarian aid.

“In the battle between democracy and autocracies, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security,” Biden said. “This is a real test. It’s going to take time. So let us continue to draw inspiration from the iron will of the Ukrainian people.”

Among the topics not discussed in the address was the chaotic departure of U.S.-led NATO forces from Afghanistan last August. But in the Republican response to Biden’s speech, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa blasted the president for what she called his failure there.

“The disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal did more than cost American lives; it betrayed our allies and emboldened our enemies,” Reynolds said.

Experts said in light of the current crisis, it makes sense that Biden devoted his foreign policy part of the speech to Ukraine, even though much there remains uncertain.

“So now it’s a moment where I think Biden thus far has proved a lot of his experience and value, but it all depends on how things play out in Ukraine,” Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, told VOA.

Another expert told VOA the strong positive, bipartisan response Biden received on his Ukraine remarks will be noticed in Moscow.

“And foreign policy wise, that’s a very important signal,” said Michael Kimmage, professor of history at the Catholic University of America and fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “Putin will be looking for any kind of division or vulnerability in American politics. I think everybody in the room, not just Biden, but everybody in the room knew this is not the moment to send that signal.”

President Biden again made clear the United States will not send troops into Ukraine, but vowed that he and the other members of the NATO alliance will defend NATO territory.

“For that purpose, we have mobilized American ground forces, air squadrons, ship deployments to protect NATO countries including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia,” Biden said. “As I have made crystal clear, the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of territory that is NATO territory with the full force of our collective power. Every single inch.”
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U.S. President Joe Biden said late Tuesday Russian leader Vladimir Putin “badly miscalculated” in his invasion of neighboring Ukraine and the thought that he could make the free world “bend to his menacing ways.”

Biden used the beginning of his State of the Union address to the nation to express support for Ukraine and outline the widespread, unified response from Ukrainian allies that has included sending weapons and aid to Ukraine and imposing strong economic sanctions against Russia.

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people,” Biden said. “He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never, never weaken the resolve of the free world.”

Biden announced the closing of U.S. air space to all Russian flights and said the U.S. Justice Department is forming a special task force “to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs.”

He reiterated that the United States will not be sending troops to fight in Ukraine, while stating that NATO allies would “defend every inch” of territory in member states.

“The Ukrainians are fighting back with pure courage, but the next few days, weeks and months will be hard on them,” Biden said. “Putin has unleashed violence and chaos, but while he may make gains on the battlefield, he will pay a continuing high price over the long run.”

Among the audience in the U.S. Capitol was Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova. Many of the lawmakers in attendance wore forms of yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, to show their support.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Biden by phone Tuesday about sanctions against Russia and defense aid for Ukraine.

“We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy tweeted.

Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, faced increased Russian shelling Tuesday, including a strike at the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building in the center of the city that Zelenskyy called “undisguised terror” and a war crime.

A day after hours of talks with Russian officials yielded no resolution on Ukraine’s demands for a cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian forces, Zelenskyy again called for a halt in fighting to give negotiations a chance.

“It’s necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview in a heavily guarded government compound in Kyiv.

A U.S. defense official told reporters that despite instances of Russian forces in some areas being slowed by logistical problems, the Russian military still has significant combat resources that have not yet been utilized in Ukraine.

One closely watched situation is the approach of a kilometers-long Russian column that has been making its way toward Kyiv.

The official said the U.S. assesses that since the invasion began last Thursday, Russia has launched more than 400 missiles, and that Ukraine’s air and missile defense systems remain viable.

International pressure on Russia continues, with Canada announcing Tuesday it will refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court for a probe of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Ukraine.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure that took place Monday in Kharkiv “violates the laws of war.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of war crimes and told reporters that “Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas,” despite extensive, mounting evidence of Kremlin attacks on homes, schools and hospitals documented by reporters.

The United Nations General Assembly is also expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution calling for Russia to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine and condemning Putin’s move earlier this week to “increase the readiness” of Russia’s nuclear forces.

The resolution, which is non-binding but does signal international opinion, follows a failed effort at the U.N. Security Council where Russia used its veto power to block a similar resolution.

In addition to sanctions that have directly targeted Russia’s banking system and figures close to Putin, many companies have halted their Russian operations in response to the invasion.

Exxon Mobil said it would exit Russia, joining other oil companies such as Shell and BP. Apple stopped selling iPhones and other products in Russia, while car maker Ford and airplane manufacturer Boeing announced they are suspending Russian operations.

Reuters reported late Tuesday that Russian President Putin issued a decree banning cash exports of foreign currency from the country exceeding $10,000 in value with effect from March 2, according to a Kremlin statement.

Also on Tuesday, Echo Moskvy, one of Russia’s oldest radio stations that is critical of the authorities, was taken off the airwaves. The Associated Press confirmed that the blockage, along with threats to shutter the renowned station permanently, is a result of its coverage of the invasion.

Ukraine’s parliament said a Russian missile hit the television tower in Kyiv. Local media reported the attack caused several explosions and Ukrainian channels stopped broadcasting shortly thereafter.

Ukrainian officials said five people were killed in the attack. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that it rekindles memories of the mass killing of Jews by Nazi SS troops and local collaborators during World War II.

“Kyiv TV tower, which has just been hit by a Russian missile, is situated on the territory of Babyn Yar. On September 29-30, 1941, Nazis killed over 33 thousand Jews here. 80 years later, Russian Nazis strike this same land to exterminate Ukrainians. Evil and barbaric.”

The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 677,000 people, most of them women and children, had fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since Thursday. It said it expects 4 million people could eventually flee Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.
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The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has ignited responses from arts and cultural institutions around the world, which are canceling performances by Russian artists, many of whom are supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The Cannes Film Festival, an invitation-only event that previews top-quality films from more than 80 countries, announced that no Russian delegations will be welcome this year, following the continued conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The festival is set to begin in May. 

“Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government,” festival organizers said in a statement released Tuesday. 

The festival may allow individual Russian filmmakers but has not stated whether their films will be permitted to compete. 

The European Broadcasting Union, producers of Eurovision, declared that Russia will no longer be allowed to enter acts for the popular Eurovision Song Contest. The decision came after recent recommendations by the contest’s governing body, the Reference Group, which underscored the values of the broadcasting union.   

Broadcasters from Iceland, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands had requested that Russia be barred from the contest.  

Valery Gergiev, chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and a Putin ally, was dismissed after refusing to condemn the Russian president’s actions in Ukraine.  

The internationally renowned conductor has had many of his concerts canceled and has been dropped by his management company. 

The Edinburgh International Festival, where Gergiev served as an honorary president, requested his resignation, saying, “Edinburgh is twinned with the city of Kyiv, and this action is being taken in sympathy with, and support of, its citizens.”  

Some artists oppose the global trend of cultural sanctions against Russia. 

French artist Ségolène Haehnsen Kan maintains a solo exhibition of her paintings in Moscow at the Surface Lab Art Gallery.  

“Art shouldn’t be prevented by war,” she told Artnet News. “It’s important for Ukrainian artists to know that artists in Russia support them.” 

 
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Western nations are paying Russia hundreds of millions of dollars every day for gas and oil imports, despite sanctions imposed on the country’s banking and aviation sectors following its invasion of Ukraine. With around 40 percent of Europe’s energy needs imported from Russia, leaders are scrambling to find alternatives, as Henry Ridgwell reports from Berlin.

Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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Cryptocurrency purchases in rubles are at a record high following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, raising questions about whether the likes of bitcoin can help Moscow get around sanctions. 

Why is crypto attracting Russians? 

The United States and its Western allies have sought to cripple Russia’s banking sector and currency with a barrage of sanctions. 

They include cutting selected Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, rendering them isolated from the rest of the world. 

SWIFT’s system allows banks to communicate rapidly and securely about transactions. Cutting Russia off is aimed at preventing it from trading with most of the world. 

Western measures that prohibit transactions with Russia’s central bank have also helped plunge the country’s economy into turmoil. 

The ruble is down 27% against the dollar since the start of the year and is trading at more than 100 rubles per U.S. unit, its weakest level on record. 

Russians are consequently flocking to cryptocurrencies that operate on a decentralized network and therefore are not directly affected by sanctions.  

Crypto data-provider Kaiko has reported record purchasing volumes of bitcoin in rubles since last week’s invasion.  

Another type of digital currency to have benefitted hugely from Russia’s assault on its neighbor is tether, a “stablecoin” that is seen as less volatile than cryptocurrencies since it is pegged to the dollar. 

“What we saw … looking at tether (is) the average trade size has increased” in Russia, Clara Medalie, head of research at Kaiko, told AFP. 

“However, it’s still relatively low, which shows an interest split between institutional and retail buyers.” 

Is crypto a long-term solution against sanctions? 

Governments can, if they wish, order shopping platforms to place restrictions on purchases made using cryptocurrencies as a way of blocking attempts to get around sanctions. 

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is also minister of the country’s digital transformation, demanded via Twitter that crypto platforms block Russian accounts, a request reportedly being considered by U.S. authorities. 

Analysis group Chainalysis said in a statement that it was “optimistic that the cryptocurrency industry can counter attempts by Russian actors to evade sanctions.” 

It pointed out that blockchains, or the registers of transactions made by digital currencies, allow Western governments to identify violations.  

At the same time, North Korea and Iran have succeeded in getting around sanctions thanks to cryptocurrencies. 

North Korea has earned billions of dollars from cyberattacks, while Iran has used low-cost energy to mine bitcoin, according to Caroline Malcolm of Chainalysis. 

However, using crypto to sell key Russian export commodities, such as wheat, oil and gas, is unlikely because, one veteran broker said, trading volumes of bitcoin and its rivals remain insufficient to support large-scale trades. 

Crypto reactions to invasion? 

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices have jumped since the invasion but not simply because of Russian investment. 

The Ukranian government since Saturday has received $17.1 million worth of crypto following a call for donations, according to analysts Elliptic.  

“We didn’t get to choose the time or manner of our little industry becoming geopolitically critical overnight, but it is upon us,” tweeted Nic Carter, partner at crypto fund Castle Island. 

But Medalie cautioned that the “ruble is not a large cryptomarket. There is not a lot of influence on the rest of the market,” she said. 

 
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Western nations are continuing to pay Russia hundreds of millions of dollars every day for gas and oil imports, despite the tough sanctions imposed on the country’s banking and aviation sectors following its invasion of Ukraine.

With around 40% of Europe’s oil and gas imported from Russia, governments are scrambling to find alternatives. European Union ministers met Monday in Brussels to discuss how to break the dependency.

Russia dependency

“Every day we spend 350 million euros, which we give to the Russian system, to be able for them to invest in arms, which are dropping on the city of Kyiv and elsewhere today. So yes, for climate reasons and for the security of our people, we need to reassess that dependency on fossil fuels,” Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s minister for the environment, climate and communications, told Reuters.

Russia supplies about a third of Europe’s gas, and the latest figures show imports have increased since its invasion of Ukraine. The soaring price makes trade even more profitable, and analysts say there are no quick alternatives.

“I think that the West is going to try to continue to hold back on sanctioning on the oil and gas sector,” said Douglas Rediker, a nonresident fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Gas imports

Germany is among the EU states most dependent on Russian energy. Last week, it announced the cancellation of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

Gas industry executives say the fossil fuel will remain vital for Germany’s economy.

“We have to think about the future,” Timm Kehler, managing director of the Zukunft Gas Association told Reuters. “Germany will need more gas because domestic production is declining, because we also need more gas-fired power plants, because we will also use more gas in other industrial sectors in order to achieve the climate targets. And we have to answer the question, ‘Where will gas come from in the future?’ Nord Stream 2 has played a very central role in this up till now.”

Energy U-turn

In recent days, Germany’s government has signaled a dramatic U-turn on energy policy. Addressing lawmakers Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to diversify supply. Europe’s LNG imports hit a record high in January, with nearly half coming from the United States.

Germany had pledged to switch off its nuclear power stations by the end of this year and all coal-fired plants by 2030. Scholz said those decisions could be reversed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The events of the past few days have shown us that responsible, forward-looking energy policy is decisive not only for our economy and the environment. It is also decisive for our security. … We must change course to overcome our dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers,” Scholz said at the emergency session of parliament on Sunday.

Renewables

German ministers are drafting laws to ensure renewable energy sources will account for 100% of Germany’s power supply by 2035. The continent must speed up the change, said former environment and energy secretary Rainer Baake, now managing director at the Berlin-based Climate Neutrality Foundation.

“Now we have to talk about even faster implementation of these plans. I think it is doable. It has to happen in all sectors. It has to happen in the power sector. It has to happen in the transport sector, in the heating sector, and of course also in the industrial sector,” Baake said.

“There should be a very clear message to Russia now: We don’t want your gas, and we don’t want your oil in the future. It’s going to be painful, because prices are probably going to be higher. But the only way to free ourselves from this dependency from fossil fuels is to put efficiency and renewables instead of the fossil energies,” Baake told VOA.

Cutting ties

Meanwhile, European energy giants have announced they are offloading their stakes in Russian oil firms worth billions of dollars. British Petroleum said it would sell its 20% share in Russian state-owned firm Rosneft, while Royal Dutch Shell said Monday it would end its joint ventures with Gazprom.

“We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security,” Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, told reporters.
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Despite strategic partnerships with the Kremlin, no Central Asian government has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or recognized Luhansk and Donetsk as independent. Russian claims that regional leaders “understand” President Vladimir Putin’s decisions have been refuted or ignored.

U.S. media reports that Kazakhstan refused Moscow’s “request to send troops,” attributed to the U.S. National Security Council, also have not been confirmed by authorities in Nur-Sultan, the Kazakh capital. Kazakh and American pundits suspect the White House may have disclosed intelligence without providing details.

Central Asian governments have been evacuating their citizens from Ukraine.

During a February 28 virtual meeting with Central Asian foreign ministers, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine and reiterated Washington’s support for that nation’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. His Central Asian colleagues, however, did not publicly echo this line.

Experts tell VOA that authorities in the region are “walking the thinnest line ever.” The public has been more critical of Russia’s war than their leaders.

“The government is calculating possible risks,” said Kazakh scholar Daniyar Kosnazarov. “All of us will be affected.”

The Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) sent a short-duration military deployment to Kazakhstan in January when the government faced mass protests and violence.

“No one wants foreign troops. We had this experience, even for a small amount of time, so we can relate to Ukraine,” said Kosnazarov, who is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.

He urged the Kazakh government to focus on its domestic agenda and implement political and economic reforms promised by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

“This conflict will definitely affect the course and quality of reforms, but society will continue to demand increased living standards.”

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also are part of the CSTO. Uzbekistan, which has joined and withdrawn twice, has observer status.

The Kremlin has said the Kyrgyz and Uzbek leaders have told Russian President Vladimir Putin that they support his military action in Ukraine but press services in those nations have stressed only that they “exchanged views on the situation around Ukraine.”

Bishkek, Tashkent and Dushanbe have chosen to stay neutral, citing close ties to both Russia and Ukraine, calling for dialogue and upholding international norms. All five Central Asian countries, like Ukraine, were once part of the Soviet Union.

More than 3 million Uzbeks work in Russia. Tajikistan has more than 1.6 million, and Kyrgyzstan 620,000 citizens working in that country, according to official statistics. World Bank data shows that remittances from Russia constitute nearly one-third of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Tajikistan — more than 20% for Kyrgyzstan and more than 10% for Uzbekistan.

“As Russia’s economy sinks, ours will, too. Ruble devaluation will mean further devaluation of our currencies,” predicted Tajik intellectual Parviz Mullojanov.

Central Asian states want productive relations with the United States, European Union, and Russia, he said. “They don’t want to sever ties with the West at all but need to deal with Russia next door.”

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members of Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which also includes Armenia and Belarus.

Emil Umetaliev, former Kyrgyz economy minister, said the costs of war always fall on ordinary people.

“As an EEU member, our country will suffer. We are dependent on Russia’s diminishing economy. This will especially hurt small- and medium-size businesses.”

Countries in the region must survive as independent nations, argued Umetaliev. “Central Asian leaders should coordinate foreign policies, establishing a common strategy in line with international agreements, to prevent separatism and invasion.”

Marlene Laruelle, Central Asia program director at George Washington University in Washington, believes the region’s players are “very unhappy and afraid of what Russia is doing.”

“They may see Russia as the aggressor, but also feel that the West has pushed it too much, especially on NATO enlargement.”

These states do not have much room to maneuver, she added. “The Russian economic recession, driven by Western sanctions, will have a huge impact on investment and remittances.”

Maqsuda, 45, an Uzbek migrant in Samara, Russia, told VOA that workers like her are extremely nervous about their earnings losing value. “I send at least $400 a month to my family in Jizzakh. I may lose my job and even if I keep it, how am I to exchange and send money? ATMs here already don’t work.”

Laruelle thinks the war on Ukraine will damage Russia’s credibility. “Clearly the regime will now be seen as more repressive and authoritarian than ever.”

She views Central Asian opinion on Ukraine-Russia as polarized.

“Putler,” a play on “Hitler,” is a common pejorative for Putin on Uzbek and regional social media. Posts in both native languages and Russian condemn the war and support Ukraine.

Uzbekistan’s Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Alisher Kadirov, known for anti-Russian stands, applauds Ukraine for fighting, calling the Kremlin’s war wrong.

But he advocates a calm, pragmatic approach, and peace, hailing the position taken by the administration of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

“As friends of both Ukraine and Russia, we hope these dark clouds will vanish soon,” Kadirov wrote on his Telegram channel.

Don’t be fooled by this social media outpour, said Uzbek blogger and editor Eldar Assanov, underlining that Central Asia still largely lives in a Russian-dominated information space.

Several Uzbek news outlets informed VOA that they’ve been unofficially ordered not to publish and air pro-Ukraine content.

“We’ve been warned to be balanced and neutral, which we always try to be, but in this case, the authorities don’t want us to put out any view deploring Russia and/or defending Ukraine,” said a manager of a well-established media outlet in Tashkent, speaking on condition of anonymity and not revealing the name of the organization.

Assanov is not surprised at such restrictions. “Many follow Russian websites and channels, don’t know Ukrainian arguments, and just support Russia.”

But the Russian media presence has decreased with improved content in native languages. And social media expose Central Asians to global debates and diverse opinion.

Still, Assanov said, Russian influence is very strong. “Uzbek media just copy Russian content.”

“No country wants what Ukraine is experiencing,” he said. “So, leaders may get softer with Russia, but not rush to join its projects and cultivate other powers to counter the Russian pressure, such as Turkey.”

Journalists and bloggers across Uzbekistan take credit for advancing Uzbek media but don’t see particularly higher levels of critical thinking. “I can’t say we’ve been that effective yet, perhaps with the next generation,” said Assanov. “For now, for many, Russia is great because it can invade.”

This story originated in VOA’s Uzbek Service. Davron Hotam in Kyrgyzstan and Ozod Mas’ul in Tajikistan contributed to this report.
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As Russia’s war in Ukraine plays out for the world on social media, big tech platforms are moving to restrict Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation.

Google announced Tuesday that it’s blocking the YouTube channels of those outlets in Europe “effective immediately” but acknowledged “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”

Other U.S.-owned tech companies have offered more modest changes so far: limiting the Kremlin’s reach, labeling more of this content so that people know it originated with the Russian government, and cutting Russian state organs off from whatever ad revenue they were previously making. 

The changes are a careful balancing act intended to slow the Kremlin from pumping propaganda into social media feeds without angering Russian officials to the point that they yank their citizens’ access to platforms during a crucial time of war, said Katie Harbath, a former public policy director for Facebook. 

“They’re trying to walk this very fine line; they’re doing this dance,” said Harbath, who now serves as director of technology and democracy at the International Republican Institute. “We want to stand up to Russia, but we also don’t want to get shut down in the country. How far can we push this?” 

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, announced Monday that it would restrict access to Russia’s RT and Sputnik services in Europe, following a statement by European Union President Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend that officials are working to bar the sites throughout the EU. 

Google followed Tuesday with a European ban of those two outlets on YouTube.

The U.S. has not taken similar action or applied sanctions to Russian state media, leaving the American-owned tech companies to wrestle with how to blunt the Kremlin’s reach on their own. 

The results have been mixed. 

RT and other Russian-state media accounts are still active on Facebook in the U.S. Twitter announced Monday that after seeing more than 45,000 tweets daily from users sharing Russian state-affiliated media links in recent days, it will add labels to content from the Kremlin’s websites. The company also said it would not recommend or direct users to Russian-affiliated websites in its search function.

Over the weekend, the Menlo Park, California-based company announced it was banning ads from Russian state media and had removed a network of 40 fake accounts, pages and groups that published pro-Russian talking points. The network used fictitious persons posing as journalists and experts, but didn’t have much of an audience.

Facebook began labeling state-controlled media outlets in 2020.

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced it wouldn’t display content or ads from RT and Sputnik, or include RT’s apps in its app store. And Google’s YouTube restricted Russian-state media from monetizing the site through ads, although the outlets are still uploading videos every few minutes on the site.

By comparison, the hands-off approach taken by TikTok, a Chinese platform popular in the U.S. for short, funny videos, has allowed pro-Russian propaganda to flourish on its site. The company did not respond to messages seeking comment.

One recent video posted to RT’s TikTok channel features a clip of Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to ex-President Donald Trump who now hosts a podcast with a penchant for misinformation and conspiracy theories. 

“Ukraine isn’t even a country. It’s kind of a concept,” Bannon said in the clip, echoing a claim by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “So when we talk about sovereignty and self-determination it’s just a corrupt area where the Clintons have turned into a colony where they can steal money.”

Already, Facebook’s efforts to limit Russian state media’s reach have drawn ire from Russian officials. Last week, Meta officials said they had rebuffed Russia’s request to stop fact-checking or labeling posts made by Russian state media. Kremlin officials responded by restricting access to Facebook.

The company has also denied requests from Ukrainian officials who have asked Meta to remove access to its platforms in Russia. The move would prevent everyday Russians from using the platforms to learn about the war, voice their views or organize protests, according to Nick Clegg, recently named the company’s vice president of global affairs.

“We believe turning off our services would silence important expression at a crucial time,” Clegg wrote on Twitter Sunday.

More aggressive labeling of state media and moves to de-emphasize their content online might help reduce the spread of harmful material without cutting off a key information source, said Alexandra Givens, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based non-profit. 

“These platforms are a way for dissidents to organize and push back,” Givens said. “The clearest indication of that is the regime has been trying to shut down access to Facebook and Twitter.”

Russia has spent years creating its sprawling propaganda apparatus, which boasts dozens of sites that target millions of people in different languages. That preparation is making it hard for any tech company to mount a rapid response, said Graham Shellenberger at Miburo Solutions, a firm that tracks misinformation and influence campaigns. 

“This is a system that has been built over 10 years, especially when it comes to Ukraine,” Shellenberger said. “They’ve created the channels, they’ve created the messengers. And all the sudden now, we’re starting to take action against it.”

Redfish, a Facebook page that is labeled as Russian-state controlled media, has built up a mostly U.S. and liberal-leaning audience of more than 800,000 followers over the years. 

The page has in recent days posted anti-U.S. sentiment and sought to down play Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “military operation” and dedicating multiple posts to highlighting anti-war protests across Russia. 

One Facebook post also used a picture of a map to highlight airstrikes in other parts of the world. 

“Don’t let the mainstream media’s Eurocentrism dictate your moral support for victims of war,” the post read. 

Last week, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia sent letters to Google, Meta, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok and Twitter urging them to curb such Russian influence campaigns on their websites. 

“In addition to Russia’s established use of influence operations as a tool of strategic influence, information warfare constitutes an integral part of Russian military doctrine,” Warner wrote.
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In the first three days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, over 100,000 people crossed Ukraine’s border in the West. On February 27th alone – according to the Ukrainian border police – over 120,000 people poured out of the embattled country. For VOA, Oksana Lihostova has more from western Ukraine in this report narrated by Anna Rice.
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