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Moscow banned people from posting on social media about drone strikes in the capital.
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The restrictions apply to almost everyone, including government officials and emergency services.
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The measure comes as Ukraine steps up drone attacks on Moscow this month.
Officials in Moscow are introducing a new ban on posts about the aftermath of drone strikes in the capital, making clear that the ban applies to essentially everyone.
The restrictions prohibit individual residents, organizations, media, emergency services and government agencies from publishing “writings, photos and videos” about such attacks, according to a statement released by the city’s mayor’s office on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the only authorities that allow this are the Russian Ministry of Defense and the information channel managed by Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
Sobyanin’s website said: “The capital’s counter-terrorism committee adopted this regulation to prevent the spread of false information.”
There is generally little official information from Russia about the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes, but residents often post videos or photos on social media of resulting fires or explosions.
Such videos have become the primary way for many open source investigators and Ukrainian units to confirm or verify the damage caused by successful attacks.
Now, individual residents of Moscow can be fined up to 5,000 rubles ($67), while officials who publish such content without permission can be fined up to 50,000 rubles. According to the statement, fines for legal entities and organizations can reach up to 200,000 rubles.
According to data from Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-owned bank, the national median salary in Russia is approximately 10,000 per month.
Sobyanin’s announcement of the new measures comes as Ukraine recently stepped up pressure on Moscow during the week of Russia’s annual Victory Day military parade, carrying out long-range drone strikes on the capital on the eve of the event.
Attacks that also occurred last year forced some airports to temporarily close and prompted authorities to restrict mobile internet services to jam drone signals.
In a now-banned video genre, bystanders filmed from multiple angles the damage caused by a recent attack on a luxury high-rise just four miles from the Kremlin. Video showed debris strewn along a main street where emergency vehicles gathered late at night.
Moscow’s ban echoes similar rules imposed by the United Arab Emirates in March, when the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran prompted Tehran to launch waves of long-range drones at its neighbors.
Filming or publishing footage of an Iranian attack could result in penalties including deportation of the alien, up to two years in prison, and fines totaling up to $54,449.
Read the original article on Business Insider
