On 31 October 2024, the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) committee on foreign influence demanded that authorities open investigations into the activities of TV Rain in Russia, according to a post on the committee’s official Telegram channel. In its publication, the committee accused TV Rain of continuing its activities in Russia despite an earlier decision which banned its activities as “undesirable”.
According to the State Duma committee, the independent channel was attempting to contact “residents of Russian regions” to obtain information of the recent BRICS summit in Kazan, including to obtain information on the Russian military. The committee demanded that authorities open a criminal case to investigate these attempts and recalled that Russian citizens found to work for “undesirable organizations”, which TV Rain was designated as in 2023, could be sentenced to up to six years in prison.