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After the rebellion, Prigozhin's media group in Russia is closed

2023-07-02 13:11:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The media group controlled by mercenary leader Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been shut down in what is reported to be retaliation against him for the June 24 rebellion.

Yevgeny Zubarev, head of Prigozhin's RIA FAN news site, announced on the evening of July 1 that the company was closing, without giving any reason for the decision.

RIA FAN is the most prominent outlet of Prigozhin's Patriot Media group, which generally takes a pro-Kremlin stance, offering both positive reporting on Prigozhin's activities and attacking rivals such as St. Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov.

The Prigozhin-controlled newspaper Nevskiye Novosti in St. Petersburg also announced it was ceasing publication.

The Kommersant newspaper reported on June 30 that Russia's state media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, had blocked Prigozhin's media websites without giving any reason for the actions.

"Because we cannot continue to work on the Russian Internet or fulfill our obligations to our partners and advertisers, I have made the decision, in cooperation with the board of the Patriot group, to stop publishing as of June 30," Nevskiye Novosti editor-in-chief Andrei Krasnobayev told Radio Free Europe.

Prigozhin and hundreds of his armed mercenary fighters led a brief uprising on June 24, when they occupied the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to march on Moscow.

The crisis subsided after Prigozhin accepted a deal that would allow him to go into exile in Belarus and give his mercenaries the choice of joining him there or being integrated into the Russian army.

Prigozhin has not appeared in public since the suppression of his uprising, but the Belarusian leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has said he is in Belarus.

On the Telegram platform, Ostorozhno Novosti reported on July 1 that Russia's Defense Ministry had canceled a contract with Prigozhin's Concord hotel company, which was laying off hundreds of workers.

According to the contract, Concord provided food for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, as well as for hospitals and public organizations in the parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation.