On 10 May 2023, the Russian internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda informed that Russia’s internet censor Roskomnadzor had blocked access to the website of Berlin-based Russian language TV channel Ost West. While Roskomnadzor did not specify the reason for the block, OstWest’s coverage of events in Russia and Ukraine does not respect Russian censorship regulations, for example through the channel’s use of the term “war” to speak of Russia’s large-scale invasion on Ukraine.
The channel’s editor-in-chief, Maria Makeeva, was previously the deputy editor-in-chief of TV Rain, currently Russia’s most popular independent TV channel. In 2022, OstWest received the National Prize of the German National Foundation for Commitment to Democracy, wrote the Russian service of RFE/RL.
In 2022, OstWest aired programs hosted by the former editor-in-chief of TV Rain, Mikhail Zygar. In 2023, the channel’s website published articles by former Kommersant columnist and art curator Anna Narinskaya, who left Russia following the country’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.