The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office has declared the independent media outlet Doxa “undesirable on the territory of Russia,” as the government in Moscow continues to crack down on critical media.
The designation was announced by the State Duma commission that investigates alleged foreign interference in a statement Thursday on Telegram. The commission had requested designating Doxa as “extremist” in November 2022.
Doxa is “masquerading as a student publication,” Vasily Piskarev, head of the commission, said in the statement.
“The Doxa organization is involved in the training of subversive activities on the territory of Russia,” the commission said. The outlet’s publication of “instructions on how to set fire to military registration offices, police departments and military equipment, calls for Russian servicemen to surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” it said.
With the designation of “undesirable,” the penalty for financing or cooperating with Doxa is “up to five years of imprisonment,” Piskarev said.
Doxa is a student-led magazine founded in 2017 at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. It has covered and openly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and reported on state prosecution experienced by students. In December 2019, the university stripped Doxa of its student organization status.
Four former editors were sentenced to two years of correctional labor in 2022 for inciting minors to commit crimes.
