On 16 June 2023, the Russian social media Vkontakte blocked the page of Pskovskaya Gubernia, an independent online media outlet reporting on news in Russia’s north-western Pskov region. The outlet’s Vkontakte page was blocked following a demand formulated by the Russian Prosecutor-General’s office, Pskovskaya Gubernia reported on Telegram.
The page was blocked after journalists published information on losses sustained by a Russian army unit in the region of Belgorod, which had been attacked from Ukrainian territory by anti-Kremlin insurgents claiming to be Russian nationals. Pskovskaya Gubernia said the publications it had been incriminated for were mainly appeals by relatives of mobilized soldiers from Pskov, as well as from the nearby Leningrad region. Journalists added that the information they published “was confirmed by the governor of Pskov (and this is a success for those who sent us the information), but for some reason he was not blocked.”