Russian opposition enraged at NTV channel

Russian opposition groups and civil activists are enraged at the NTV channel, which has recently broadcasted a film devoted to the opposition protest campaign started after the December 4 parliamentary elections.

According to the filmmakers, the people who took in the protests were paid, supposedly by the United States.

In the 1990s the NTV channel was Russia's biggest independent TV channel and played an important role in the country's social and political life. The TV channel underwent dramatic changes during the first years of Vladimir Putin's rule and eventually become a state-run media outlet after its owner, Vladimir Gisinsky, lost his share.

The massive protest campaign started right after the December parliamentary elections, the results of which were questioned by the opposition and international observers, with EU lawmakers demanding the Russian delegation be excluded from the PACE.