MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov believes that censorship and other strict measures from the authorities are necessary in wartime.
"Yes, now is a very difficult, military time, which requires that the authorities take tough measures," the Kremlin spokesman said in an interview with the student news channel MGIMO 360.
"I believe that in a time of war, of course, there should be some censorship. And certain practices that would normally be unacceptable during peacetime, are now a must," Peskov pointed out.
At the same time, he found it difficult to answer a question about where the line is drawn between criticizing and discrediting the Russian armed forces. "Where is the line? I can't answer this question. It is very thin. And that's why I would advise all those who, without having a clear understanding of what is going on, want to speculate so indiscriminately and throw some words of criticism at our army, at those who are engaged in the special military operation, to think long and hard here," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Liability of foreign agents
"As for the rather harsh actions against those who violate existing laws related to foreign agents, this comes in the context of Russia's becoming more independent," Peskov said. He pointed out that "many of those who received money from abroad tried to interfere in Russian politics."
"One rather clever state has figured out how to fight this - I am talking about the US," the Kremlin spokesman noted, recalling that the Foreign Agents Act was passed in the country in 1938. "It's a pretty tough law, very tough. When a nearly identical law was trotted out in Georgia last year, there was almost an uprising there. But the Americans were the first to implement this practice, so that no one could meddle with them. More precisely - so that the communists could not interfere with them," Peskov stressed.
He explained that Russia introduced "a similar law," although "in some ways it is even milder" than the American one. "This is where the foreign agents came from, this is where the strict rules came from," the spokesman said. He noted that this law "is aimed at protecting our society, our politics from paid external interference."
MGIMO 360 is a student news channel at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). The channel covers various youth events at MGIMO and beyond, creates entertainment content on various topics, and publishes interviews. Since May 2021, the channel's correspondents have been covering the working visits of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as part of the Russian Foreign Ministry's pool of journalists.