In social media messages sent out in English and in Russian, the BBC outlined ways to still read and listen to its coverage. Access to the news outlet’s website appears to have been restricted by the Russian state communications watchdog.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed yesterday that the BBC was playing “a determined role in undermining the Russian stability and security”.
She added that Moscow was the victim of “unprecedented information terrorism” over new coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Ministers have rallied around the importance of the national broadcaster in the fight against Moscow aggression in recent days.
Often under fire from Conservative MPs, there has been praise for its news reports from Ukraine.
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The corporation has played an important role on combatting Kremlin lies about Putin’s invasion, highlight the situation on the ground to millions of people around the world.
Directing Russian on how to still read the BBC online, the company issued advice on social media stating: “To access the BBC, circumvention tools can be used, such as the Psiphon ass (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac).
“The Tor Browser also has a decimated BBC site, on this URL: http://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion/
“Please note that the BBC site for Tor works only on the Tor Browser or a similar browser, such as the Onion Browser (for iPhones).”
It also released the statement in Russian to make it easier for the information to quickly spread across the country.
The BBC said it would not be deterred by the Russian curbs.
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“Access to accurate, independent information is a fundamental human right which should not be denied to the people of Russia, millions of whom rely on BBC News every week,” it said.
“We will continue our efforts to make BBC News available in Russia, and across the rest of the world.”
The BBC has seen an increase in traffic to its Russian language news website since the invasion of Ukraine began.
It said the site’s audience rose to a record 10.7 million people in the last week – more than triple its year-to-date weekly average.
Yesterday Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries paid tribute to the work being done by BBC journalists and those from other news outlets in Ukraine.
She thanked them for risking their lives to ensure a true picture of the unfolding situation was projected around the world.
Ms Dorries said: “Despite his best efforts to censor reporting in Russia, Putin’s own citizens are turning to factual, independent information in their millions.
“At this point I’d just like to offer my heartfelt thanks and admiration to all of those journalists working for the BBC, the ITV and other news outlets who are risking their lives to bring us unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone.”
