"Let's be honest"

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Information sovereignty is power, as Vladimir Putin knows.(Bild: AP/Sputnik)

The Kremlin has justified the suppression of freedom of expression and the censorship of media in Russia. After the end of the war, the Russian leadership wanted to restore freedom of the press in its own country. Until now, it has always been denied that censorship exists at all.

"In the state of war in which we find ourselves, the restrictions are justified, just as censorship is justified, let's be honest," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS news agency at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. 

Peskov's comment is unusual because the Kremlin usually denies that censorship exists. Opposition, civil rights activists and independent media have been harassed in Russia for years.

Putin takes brutal action against opponents
The persecution of dissenters has intensified once again with the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by President Vladimir Putin. In particular, information on failures and crimes committed by the Russian army is being strictly prosecuted.

The parliament, the Russian State Duma, approved a law to punish the alleged "discrediting of the Russian armed forces" as soon as the war began. Opposition members were even condemned for calling the invasion a war. The Kremlin itself calls its attack on the neighboring country a "special military operation". The actions of Ukraine and the West against Russia are described as war.