Tycoon Evgeny Prigozhin asks Russia to outlaw Meduza as an ‘undesirable organization’
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Kremlin-linked catering tycoon Evgeny Prigozhin has asked the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to conduct an audit of Meduza’s activities and designate the news outlet as an “undesirable organization.”
In a press release published on Wednesday, Prigozhin’s company Concord listed a number of Meduza articles that he believes violate wartime censorship laws by allegedly containing “false information about the special military operation in Ukraine” and “knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces’ conduct outside of the territory of the Russian Federation.”
The list includes the following articles, among others:
- ‘Almost nobody is happy with Putin.’ Meduza’s sources say a new wave of pessimism in the Kremlin has Russia’s hawks demanding more brutality in Ukraine while others scout for presidential successors
- ‘We’ll grind them down in the end.’ Sources tell Meduza that the Kremlin is considering another assault on Kyiv and planning victory in Ukraine by the fall
- ‘A general like that would inevitably become popular.’ The pro-Kremlin media downplays the role of Russia's military leaders in Ukraine — because they make Putin nervous
- A mercenaries’ war. How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a ‘secret mobilization’ that allowed Evgeny Prigozhin to win back Putin’s favor
According to Prigozhin, declaring Meduza an “undesirable organization” would allow the authorities to “hold [Meduza’s] employees and leaders accountable for engaging in provocative activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
On July 13, Evgeny Prigozhin asked Russia’s top investigative body to initiate a criminal case against Meduza editorial director Tatiana Ershova and special correspondent Liliya Yapparova on charges of treason and spreading “false information” about the Russian army. Prigozhin filed the complaint after Meduza sent him a request for comment on the involvement of the Wagner private military company in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(1) Who?
A businessman and restaurateur from St. Petersburg. His catering empire supplies food to major state facilities, including schools in Moscow and military commissaries around the country. In the media, Prigozhin is known as “Putin’s chef” because of his personal ties to the president. He’s also been implicated in the management of troll factories, a fake-news empire, and the “Wagner” private military company. U.S. officials say Prigozhin orchestrated a campaign to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.