Colta online media outlet suspends operation in Russia

MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The Colta online media outlet has suspended operation due to the law criminalizing fake information about the Russian Armed Forces.

"Through all these years, the editor's office of the website 'about culture and spirit of the times', which first operated as OpenSpace and was later renamed Colta, could not imagine one without the other. We do not think it is possible to write about culture without mentioning society," the outlet editors said in a statement.

They said it would be fair "to be silent for a while" amid the loss of freedom of expression.

The statement explained their suspended operation with the bill adopted on Friday to penalize fake information about the Russian Armed Forces with up to 15 years in jail, which, according to the editors, "drastically limited the opportunities of journalists."

"We cannot tell you for how long the silence may continue. Yet we are hoping that it will be as brief as possible and we will meet you again on our pages and our social media soon," it said.

Colta.ru is a Russian civil media outlet publishing materials about culture and society. Opened on June 16, 2012, the outlet has neither public nor private owners and is funded exclusively by readers, the Supervisory Board and partner projects. The Supervisory Board of the project is led by Irina Prokhorova and Alexander Rodnyansky.