Last month, Russia blocked access to the websites of Radio France Internationale and the Russian-language service of The Moscow Times in the latest restrictions on media since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Moscow Times, whose English-language website was unaffected, said in a statement the move was due to a story about the conflict in Ukraine. RFI, which broadcasts in 16 languages including Russian, said it had not been provided with an explanation.
Russian internet providers had started to block The Moscow Times Russian-language site after a notice from the communications watchdog.
The newspaper, which has covered Russia for three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, said on its English-language website that its Russian service was blocked after it published what “authorities call a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine.”
Russia has placed restrictions on reporting on the conflict. Moscow says Western media have provided an excessively partial narrative of the war in Ukraine.
