Independent TV killed

last updated 8 January 2015

Moscow

The Russian government this week closed the only remaining private national television station, TVS, and replaced it with a new, state-controlled sports channel. TVS was the last nationwide source of news and commentary critical of President Vladimir Putin. Most of its journalists came from TV6, which was shut down last year. Before that, they worked for NTV, shut down in 2001. “I have a persistent feeling,” TVS editor Yevgeny Kiselyov told The Moscow Times, “that these events are guided by somebody’s evil will.” With elections approaching for parliament in December and for president in March, the Kremlin now has a monopoly on broadcast television.