Kremlin-loyal Khakhasya got punished for unmasking a lie. Unwillingly.

Russia’s Supreme Court ruled this week the shutdown of a regional outlet called Khakhasya, acting on a complaint from the federal censorship agency Roskomnadzor.

Formally, Khakhasya neglected to indicate that the individuals it had reported about were “foreign agents” – although they were pictured mostly in negative light. It failed, in particular, to brand the Russia Freedom Legion, which fights for Ukraine, as a “terrorist organization.”

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The outlet, which existed since 2006 and had been supportive of the war in Ukraine, apologized for its sloppiness, but it didn’t help. 

However, there are strong signs that Khakhasya has lost its operational license for a different reason.

Based in the Khakhasyan republic in Siberia (near Chinese border), the outlet ran last year a story about the dictator’s November 2022 meeting with a group of mothers whose sons took part in the invasion of Ukraine. Its reporters learned that Nadezhda Uzunova, head of a regional committee representing the Khakhasyan families of combatants, had no sons participating in the ongoing “special military operation.”

Nonetheless, she attended the meeting with Putin positing herself as a “mother of two soldiers fighting in the neighboring country.”

Nadezhda Uzunova. Credit: Khakhasya

This story, titled “A year ago, a mother from Khakhasya lied to our president,” was published on 20 November 2023. Days later, the outlet ran a second story, revealing that the regional committee of mothers had not existed throughout of much of last year, although Uzunova had collected cash donations for the army on behalf of the organization.

This reporting attracted troubles onto the outlet. First, it lost accreditation in the Khakhasyan regional legislature, and then Roskomnadzor stepped in, according to the Telegram channel Siberian Express.

The Khakhasya news agency closed after 18 years in service.

Nadezhda Uzunova is alleged to have stolen a part of donations for the Russian army. She’s not been charged yet for this offense.

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