Patriot Media — the media firm owned by Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin — will shutter after the collapse of his rebellion in Russia final weekend.
“I am announcing our decision to close down and to leave the country’s information space,” Yevgeny Zubarev, director of Patriot’s information website Ria Fan, mentioned in a Saturday video posted to the outlet’s social media, Reuters reported. He didn’t give a motive for the closure.
Russia on Friday blocked entry to 5 retailers managed by Patriot: Ria Fan, Politics Today, Economy Today, Neva News and People’s News on-line. Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) was not instantly accessible for remark.
Patriot Media included the Internet Research Agency, the so-called troll farm linked to makes an attempt by Moscow to intervene in U.S. elections. Prigozhin has been accused for years of meddling in overseas politics, together with American elections, and launching disinformation campaigns all over the world.
The authorities hasn’t outlawed the corporate altogether, although Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Prigozhin’s catering agency could be investigated over his $2 billion annual wage.
The Prigozhin-controlled newspaper Nevskiye Novosti in St. Petersburg additionally introduced it was discontinuing publication, Radio Free Europe reported.