Russia blocks news sites linked to the commander of the Wagner forces

The Russian Communications Monitoring Service has blocked news websites belonging to the Patriot Media Group, which is close to the commander of the Russian Wagner Military Group Yevgeny PrigogineFriday, after a failed armed rebellion.

AFP correspondents reported that several Russian political and economic news websites including RIAFAN, all linked to Prigozhin’s group, have been blocked in Russia.

These sites appeared in the “restricted access” registry of Roskomnadzor, a government agency responsible for blocking illegal and extremist content, as well as media and other resources blocked by the authorities.

Two media outlets linked to the Patriot group, “Nevsky Novosti” and “Economica Segodnya”, announced the cessation of their activities, according to their Telegram channels.

This comes a week after the failed rebellion of Wagner fighters launched by Prigozhin, weakening the authority of President Vladimir Putin.

Later, Prigozhin stopped the rebellion and agreed to go to Belarus thanks to the mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Moscow’s ally.

Besides heading the Wagner Special Forces, Prigozhin has many other activities in the media and restaurants.

And Russian media reported that until May he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Patriot Media Group, which was established in 2019, and then Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors.