23 Jul 2021 21:15

U.S. NGO Project Media designated undesirable in Russia

MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - The American non-governmental organization Project Media, whose work has been designated as undesirable by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, has been placed on a register on the website of the Justice Ministry.

According to the list updated on Friday, Project Media is the 41st undesirable foreign NGO in Russia.

It is also the first media organization on the list.

On July 15, the Prosecutor General's Office announced its decision to designate Project Media undesirable, as it "poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system and the security of the Russian Federation."

The same day, the Justice Ministry placed on its register of foreign-agent media Project Editor-in-Chief Roman Badanin and four other Project employees, Olga Churakova, Pyotr Manyakhin, Maria Zheleznova, and Yulia Lukyanova.

Project's team said that the American Project Media was already in liquidation and no longer had relations with the journalists in Russia.

The Russian news website Project was created by Badanin in 2018. It specializes in investigative journalism. One investigation in June of this year focused on Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.