Russia has blacklisted The Moscow Times for being an “undesirable organisation”, forbidding local journalists from writing for the paper.

The independent online English-language paper published by Dutch journalist Derk Sauer had already been called a “foreign agent” and now stands accused of “discrediting the decisions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, concerning both foreign and national policy,” Moscow said.

Journalists who continue to work for the paper risk prison time and readers who share the content online will also be penalised.

The Moscow Times was first published in 1992. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a large number of journalists fled the country fearing the repercussions of the draconian Russian laws on censorship. The paper now operates from Amsterdam.

Commenting on X, Sauer said that the paper will continue to produce independent journalistic content. “That is a crime in Putin’s Russia,” he said.

Among prominent former Moscow Times journalists is Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on charges of espionage and has now been locked up for over a year without any proof of guilt.

Russia introduced the “undesirable” list in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs, banning Russians from working with or donating to these organisations.

The law has since been used against independent media outlets, human rights groups, environmental organisations (such as Greenpeace), and educational institutions. NGO’s not on its official registry are also targetted, investigative online paper The Insider claimed.

Last month, the Russian authorities banned 81 European news outlets, including Dutch public broadcaster NOS.