CHISINAU Moldova blocked access to the websites of major Russian news media including the Interfax and TASS news agencies on Monday, accusing them of taking part in an information war against the country.
Moldova, a small country with a Romanian-speaking majority located between Ukraine and NATO-member Romania, has accused Moscow of trying to overthrow its pro-Western government since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. It holds local elections later this week.
Russian troops occupy a small, mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region, and Moldova's main opposition parties have long had close ties to Moscow. Russia denies meddling in Moldova's affairs and accuses President Maia Sandu of promoting animosity.
A decree published online by Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service listed 31 websites to be blocked immediately for "online content used in the war of information against the Republic Of Moldova", adding to 22 blocked earlier this month.
The new list included 14 Russian news sources, including prominent newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and website Lenta.ru, as well as TASS and Interfax.
In a separate decree, Moldova also suspended the licenses of six domestic TV channels.
Moscow did not immediately respond. The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously described the decision to block websites as a hostile step aimed at denying Moldovans access to alternative news sources.
"Russia, through organised criminal groups, wants to influence the local elections on November 5 and undermine the democratic process," Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean said at a meeting of an Emergency Commission set up to take national security decisions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He said the banned TV channels were subordinate to organised criminal groups that had "joined forces to destabilize the country", and pursued interests outside of Moldova.
Since June 2022, Moldova has already banned TV stations from broadcasting news and analysis programmes from Russia, allowing broadcasts in Russian of only entertainment shows and movies.
(Reporting by Aleksandr Tanas; Writing by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Peter Graff)