Dozhd TV employees should return to Russia, Latvian minister says
Alexey Korostelev (Photo:Screenshot / Boomer 750 / On the Dozhd TV channel, the host said that the channel helps Russian mobilized sold)
Employees of Russian TV channel Dozhd (TV Rain) – which currently operates out of Latvia – should return to Russia, and their residence permits should be revoked, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said in a Twitter post on Dec. 2.
He said the "process has already begun", without disclosing further details.
Pabriks’ suggestion comes after one of Dozhd’s anchors, Alexei Korostelev, said on air that the channel helps the Russian army fighting in Ukraine with “equipment,” without specifying exactly how that was done.
“We hope we have been able to help many (Russian) servicemen with, for example, equipment and basic necessities at the front,” Korostelev said on Dec. 1, as he was hosting Dozhd’s “Here and now” regular program.
Latvia’s media regulator NEPLP has fined Dozhd EUR 10,000 ($10,000) over the incident and noted that the channel could lose its broadcasting license in case of further infractions.
On Dec. 2, Latvia’s VDD security service has launched a probe into Dozhd, saying that expressing any kind of support for the Russian military invasion of Ukraine is “unacceptable” for a media organization operating in Latvia.
Tikhon Dzyadko, Editor-in-Chief at Dozhd, later said the channel “has not been, is not, and will not be engaged in helping to equip the Russian army.”
Dozhd’s spokesperson Katerina Kotrikadze has since announced that the channel "stops cooperation" with Korostelev, who is now presumably fired.
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