On 10 August 2023, the Russian prosecutor general’s office designated Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) as an undesirable organization, de facto banning all activities by the investigative online media outlet in Russia. According to authorities, CIT collected information about the Russian army with the aim to discredit the military. In a publication on its Telegram channel, the prosecutor general’s office also accused CIT founder Ruslan Leviev (Karpuk) of collaborating with Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (which is designated in Russia as an “extremist” group), claiming that both were working for the interests of foreign states.
Founded in 2014, CIT investigates armed conflict through open data research, with a special focus on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The entire team left Russia soon after this date in order to continue their work. CIT founder Ruslan Leviev publishes daily summaries on the war in Ukraine together with former Echo of Moscow journalist Michael Naki. Both were later sentenced to 11 years of prison in absentia by a court in Moscow.
Russians who are found to organize the activities of an “undesirable” organization face up to six years in prison, while readers who like or share an “undesirable” media’s publications face fines, or prison sentences of up to 10 years if their actions are repeated. Several Russian independent online media outlets, such as TV Rain, Meduza, iStories or Novaya Gazeta Europe, have been labelled as “undesirable” by authorities, with most of the designations having taken place since the beginning of this year.