The speaker of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, has strongly condemned the European Union’s decision to suspend the distribution of four Russian media outlets, accusing the EU of hypocrisy and destroying freedom of speech.
On Friday, the EU announced the suspension of Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti news agency, and newspapers Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, citing their role in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The EU claimed that these outlets have been “essential and instrumental in bringing forward and supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a member of Russia’s Security Council denounced the EU’s move as an attack on freedom of speech and an attempt to silence alternative viewpoints.
He stated,
“The EU leadership can only talk about freedom of speech, but in fact, it does not tolerate it. They block any alternative point of view, destroy freedom of speech, and violate the right to free dissemination and receipt of information.”
Russia has threatened a harsh response against Western media in Moscow, although it has not yet specified which media organizations will be affected.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned last week that if the EU went ahead with the ban, “we will respond with lightning speed and extremely painfully for the Westerners.”
Since the start of the war, some Russian journalists have left the country, and key independent media organizations have closed.
The Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) has called the EU ban “unlawful” and argued that the matter should have been decided by a court.
The move is part of broader geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.
Western leaders have accused Russia of being an autocracy that threatens global order, while Russia claims the West is engaged in a hybrid war aimed at destroying its reputation.
The conflict in Ukraine has further strained relations, with each side accusing the other of propaganda and disinformation.
