Ukraine

RFE/RL Welcomes Russia's Decision To Unblock Its Crimea Website

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WATCH: The chief of RFE/RL's Krym.Realii or Crimea Realities, says Russian authorities have unblocked access to the news website. On May 12, the de facto prosecutor of Crimea, Natalia Poklonskaya, announced that Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, had decided to shut down the site. The website's chief, Volodymyr Prytula, said in Kyiv on May 13 that no content was removed before the ban was lifted. (RFE/RL's Current Time TV)

RFE/RL's Crimean news desk, Krym.Realii, has welcomed Moscow's decision to unblock its news website in Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea.

A spokesman for Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, Vadim Ampelonsky, said on May 13 that Krym.Realii ("Crimea.Realities") was unblocked after RFE/RL's Crimean news desk followed a request by Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office to remove from the site "materials that contain illegal information."

However, RFE/RL's Crimean desk says it removed no content from the site in response to the May 12 blocking of its website by Russian Internet providers.

RFE/RL's Crimean desk chief Volodymyr Prytula said that "we received no demands from Roskomnadzor calling for the removal of any kind of content. So we removed no content."

"Crimea.Realities will continue providing unbiased information to the people of Crimea, considering the blockage of information and the tremendous pressure on information," Prytula added.

With reporting by Interfax