Independent TV Rain, suspended by the Russian Government for showing “banned” content where they referred to the conflict in Ukraine as a “war”, was broadcast for the final time.
The channel’s staff, during it’s final YouTube live stream, told thousands of paid subscribers about the suspension and ended the stream with the words “no war”.
The staff silently left the studio while the broadcast ended with a clip of Swan Lake, referring to the panicked moment in 1991 where Soviet TV stations showed the ballet instead of live civil unrest breaking out in the country.
On Tuesday, a restriction order was issued by the Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, preventing Russians from accessing TV Rain and a radio station called the Echo of Moscow, while accusing them of “purposeful and systematic” posting of “information calling for extremist and violent acts”.
It is not yet known when TV Rain or Echo of Moscow will return.