Ekho Moskvy radio station was taken off the air

The Ekho Moskvy radio station was taken off the air, Alexey Venediktov, its editor-in-chief, said on Tuesday.

"Ekho Moskvy was taken off the air," he said on Telegram.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that access to Ekho of Moscow and TV Rain (designated as a foreign agent in Russia) be restricted. The office said the reports by these news media contained calls for extremism, violence against Russian citizens, mass violations of public peace and safety, participation by Russian citizens in mass public events in breech of current legislation and violent overthrow of the Constitutional order.

Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has restricted access to the Ekho Moskvy radio and TV Rain (designated as a foreign agent in Russia) over publishing false information about Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

"In accordance with the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office directives, Roskomnadzor restricted access to the content of Ekho Moskvy and TV Rain for deliberately and systematically disseminating materials containing false information about the nature of the special operation on the territory of Ukraine," the watchdog said.

According to Roskomnadzor, the media outlets were publishing false information about "warfare tactics of the Russian armed forces and casualties among them, shelling attacks and casualties among civilians, and disseminating calls to stage public events on the territory of the Russian Federation."

"Under the Russian law, publishing this sort of unlawful information is punishable under Article 13.15 of the Russian Code on Administrative Offenses," the watchdog said.

Alexey Venediktov, the Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief, said on Tuesday the radio station had been taken off the air.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that access to Ekho Moskvy and TV Rain be restricted. The office said the reports by these broadcasters contained calls for extremism, violence against Russian citizens, mass violations of public peace and safety, participation by Russian citizens in mass public events in breach of current legislation and violent overthrow of the Constitutional order.