The sheer onslaught on press freedom in Russia has seen hundred news lass restricting press access in the country. This is taking place as Russia attempts to control the narrative of its war in Ukraine. This article is published by Swiss Info. Here is an excerpt:

´Freedom of speech and freedom of information are everything to me,” explains Timchenko in this new edition of our “Global Voices of Freedom”. The 60-year-old editor-in-chief of meduza.io confirms that freedom of the press and freedom of expression have been under attack in Russia for many years now. Timchenko ran one of the most widely circulated Russian news media, lenta.ru, for a decade until 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on Ukraine with the annexation of Crimea and the support for separatist forces in the Donbass region.

“At that time, the Kremlin directly ordered the owner of Lenta to fire me,” she tells SWI swissinfo.ch. “So I had to leave Russia for Latvia and Riga where I founded a new media outlet Meduza in order to have the freedom of the press that was no longer possible in Russia. For me and all my colleagues it was a real life change.”

Today the new publication, which the Ukrainian-Russian journalist heads, is very popular not only in Russia but also internationally since it publishes news both in Russian and English. “Meduza is a multimedia platform that makes its voice heard on all social networks, on messenger and through newsletters,” Timchenko adds. A mode that has enabled it to attract many young people, who today make up half of the readership.

Read the full article here.