Russia’s media watchdog has restricted access to the BBC and other independent media Web sites, it said yesterday, while lawmakers approved legislation to impose fines and harsh jail terms for publishing “fake news” about the army, in the latest move to silence dissent one week after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Access to the Web sites of the BBC, independent news site Meduza, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the Russian-language US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were “limited” by Roskomnadzor following a request from prosecutors.
The agency said that in each case, the request was filed on Thursday last week, the day Russian President Vladimir