On 10 March 2022, the popular Russian social media Vkontakte sent a letter to Idel.Realii, the edition for Russia’s Volga region of the U.S. Congress-funded online media RFE/RL, informing that it was blocking access to an Idel.Realii group on Vkontakte. It said the decision was made following a demand by the Russian Prosecutor-General’s office, which accused the outlet of “spreading fake news” in the context of the “alleged attack of Russia on Ukraine”, in Vkontakte’s words. Since 24 February, a number of independent media have been blocked in Russia for refusing to report on the war only according to official Russian sources, which claim the war is a “special military operation”.