Russia blocks access to websites that are critical of Putin

The Russian government this week blocked access to prominent websites that have been critical of President Vladimir Putin, amid heightened tensions in neighboring Ukraine. As Reuters reports, the Kremlin ordered national internet providers to block access to the blog of Alexei Navalny, a leading Putin critic, as well as a news site operated by fellow opposition figure Garry Kasparov, a Russian chess champion. 

Russia blocked access to the internet sites of prominent Kremlin foes Alexei Navalny and Garry Kasparov on Thursday under a new law critics say is designed to silence dissent in President Vladimir Putin’s third term. The prosecutor general’s office ordered Russian internet providers to block Navalny’s blog, chess champion and Putin critic Kasparov’s internet newspaper and two other sites, grani.ru and ej.ru, state regulator Roskomnadzor said. The move was the latest evidence of what government opponents see as a crackdown on independent media and particularly the internet, a platform for dissenting views in a nation where state channels dominate the airwaves.