Russia brands conflict monitoring group ‘undesirable’

Russia’s prosecutor on Thursday declared the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) an “undesirable” organization, criminalizing the work of the group that investigates armed conflicts involving Moscow.

The label, often used by authorities to crackdown on dissent, also puts CIT staff members at risk and outlaws sharing its content online.

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“The main purpose of the group of pseudo-journalists is to collect and publish information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the Russian prosecutor’s office said on Telegram.

It accused the group of Russian open source investigators, which monitors Moscow’s Ukraine offensive, of “participating in propaganda campaigns” against Russia.

CIT was created by Ruslan Leviev, who is wanted for spreading fake news against the Russian army, including an investigation on the Mariupol theatre bombing.

The prosecutor’s announcement is the latest in a series of measures Moscow has taken to sideline independent media in the country.

Russia has declared several independent media outlets as undesirable, including the news site Meduza, television channel Dozhd and investigative outlet Bellingcat.

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