After expressing "no to war" in the final programme, the whole employees of a Russian television channel quit live on-air. After Russian authorities banned its activities over its coverage of the Ukraine war, the personnel of TV Rain (Dozhd) made the decision.
In the last telecast, one of the channel's founders, Natalia Sindeyeva, declared "No to war" as the employees staged a walkout from the studio. The channel then announced that the activity had been terminated "indefinitely" in a statement.
Daniel Abrahams, a writer, published the video of the collective resignation on LinkedIn.
Following the dramatic departure of the employees, the channel broadcasted a ballet movie of 'Swan Lake,' which was broadcast on state-run Russian television channels after the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. The video has since gone popular on the internet.
The radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow), one of Russia's last remaining liberal media sources, has also been dissolved by its board after coming under fire for its coverage of the Ukraine conflict, according to its editor.
The station, which was one of Russia's most popular news and current affairs stations, was shut down on Tuesday, though it appeared to be airing on YouTube after the board's decision was made public.
According to the New York Times, the radio station broadcasted interviews with Ukrainian journalists who revealed the horrors of Russia's invasion, a choice that may have exceeded a line.
Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov, on the other hand, told news agency Reuters this week that the station will not relinquish its independent editorial line, which has been its hallmark for three decades, declaring: "Our editorial policies will not alter."
On Wednesday, the US accused Russia of waging a "full attack on media freedom and the truth" by shutting down independent news sites and denying Russians access to information on the invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, the State Department claimed that "Russia's government is also banning Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram services that tens of millions of Russian civilians rely on to access independent information and ideas."
Russians utilised social media to communicate with one another and with the rest of the world, according to the survey.