The Latvian regulator NEPLP has suspended the broadcasting of nine Russian channels in the country.
According to Latvian Public Broadcasting, it has done so not because of the channels’ content but rather their ownership.
At present they are owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, who is included in a list of people subject to EU sanctions for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Quoting Ivars Abolins, a member of the NEPLP board, it adds that the ban will remain in place until Kovalchuk is removed from the list. The channels in question are “Vremya: dalekoye i blizkoye, Bobjor, Dom Kino, Dom Kino Premium, Muzika Pervogo, O!, Poyekhali, Telecafe and Peterburg – 5 kanal.