Russian President Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine was dealt a blow on Wednesday after authorities in Kazakhstan removed a number of Russian channels from its television network.
Kazakh TV broadcasting company TVCOM announced that the Russian TV channels will no longer be broadcast in Kazakhstan as a result of a policy that aims to reduce access to channels "with an informational agenda," Russia's state-run news agency Tass reported.
The move comes just weeks after authorities blocked Russia's Sputnik24 portal, which broadcast Russian state-run TV channels in Kazakhstan including Channel One, Russia-1, Russia-24, NTV and Russia Today.
Such shows feature guests who are paid large sums of money to push the Kremlin's agenda.
Relations between Kazakhstan and Russia have deteriorated since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Kazakhstan, which shares a 7,500-kilometer border with Russia, is a former Soviet state in Central Asia and Moscow's nominal ally in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
TVCOM said the list of channels that have been removed include First Channel of the CIS, Let's Go, House of Cinema, Carousel and Beaver.
The company said it will be gradually reducing the number of channels containing news content from foreign broadcasters, and that they will be replaced by highly-rated entertainment, film and educational TV channels, including Discovery, Animal Planet and Eurosport.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.
In August 2023, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Information and Social Development blocked the website of the Russian TV channel Tsargrad for extremist propaganda and "inciting discord," local media reported. The website was said to contain materials aimed at "inciting ethnic hatred."
It was founded by Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev, who has voiced support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and has since 2014 been the subject of Western sanctions.
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has said his country would not help Russia circumvent Western sanctions imposed over Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
"Kazakhstan has unambiguously stated that it will follow the sanctions regime," Tokayev said in September 2023, following talks during an official visit to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"We have contacts with the relevant organizations to comply with the sanctions regime, and I think there should not be any concerns on the German side about possible actions aimed at circumventing the sanctions regime," he said.
The Kazakh leader has repeatedly called for Russia and Ukraine to hold peace talks.
"The time has come for rational, I would say, wise diplomacy," Tokayev said at the time. "It is time to end mutual accusations and begin talking business in order to find the basis for peace talks that would be acceptable to both sides."
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
