MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has requested that communications regulator Roskomnadzor block the online resources that popularize the activities of Ukrainian extremists, Izvestia newspaper writes on Thursday.
The prosecutors’ request includes a list of 19 resources, including blogs on VKontakte and Facebook and the official online sources of the Right Sector, the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO), the Bandera Association Tryzub (Trident) and Brotherhood.
Roskomnadzor told Izvestia that they had received the request and were working to block the extremist sources. Resource providers have blocked or deleted 81 links to these sources.
VKontakte press secretary Georgy Lobushkin told the newspaper that his social network respects the law and promptly deletes extremist posts upon request from the oversight authority.
“Acting in compliance with the law, we track down illegal content, such as those posted by extremist communities which are contrary to the law. As a Russian company that respects national legislation, we limit access to these resources in Russia at the request of Roskomnadzor,” Lobushkin said.
In November 2014, Russia’s Supreme Court added the Right Sector, UNA-UNSO, the Bandera Trident and Brotherhood to the list of extremist organizations prohibited in Russia.
UNA-UNSO merged with the Right Sector in March 2014, officially ceasing to exist as a separate political party.
In July, Interpol put Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh on the wanted list after he was charged with public incitement to terrorism and was arrested in absentia in Russia.