Moscow Blocks Russians from Visiting ‘Indigenous Russia’ Site to Prevent Northern Peoples from Knowing Their Rights

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 17 – Without giving a specific explanation, Moscow has blocked the access of residents of Russia to the Indigenous Russia portal (indigenous-russia.com/), although it is still accessible to those living abroad or those in Russia who make use of Virtual Private Networks (VPs).

            The reason behind this action, portal editor Dmitry Berezhkov says is that “the authorities want Russia’s indigenous peoples to know nothing about international law and hos they can use it to protect their rights” (thebarentsobserver.com/ru/korennye-narody/2022/07/repressivnye-vlasti-zablokirovali-sayt-indigenous-russia).

            Now in forced exile in Norway, the editor says that his website will continue to publish information about exactly that “our small team of editors and correspondents strongly believes that such work is essential both for Russia and its indigenous peoples as well as for the international community.”F

            And Berzhkov adds that “we will continue operations using new tools. We have already established Telegram and YouTube channels and now are studying other possibilities including those used by outlets like the Barents Observer and Sibir Realii and Sever Realii of Radio Free Europe.”