Russia brands Conflict Intelligence Team as ‘undesirable’

The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office has designated the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent investigative organisation, “undesirable” in the country.

CIT has been conducting war conflict-related investigations since 2014. The investigators particularly use open sources to collect data on the Ukraine war, while CIT founder Ruslan Leviev and journalist Michael Nacke almost daily review events of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The General Prosecutor’s Office slammed CIT as a “group of pseudo-journalists”, noting that CIT was initially called War in Ukraine and created by “Russian citizen who is fleeing criminal prosecution abroad” Ruslan Leviev along with members of Alexey Navalny’s “banned extremist Anti-Corruption Foundation”.

The office claims that CIT primarily focuses on “collecting and publishing information about Russia’s Armed Forces”, including personal data of Russian service members, which is “later used for discreditation purposes”.

Leviev first faced a criminal case for “fakes” last spring. He was arrested in absentia in May. The CIT chief later became a defendant in another case on the same charges in February 2023. The criminal prosecution was initiated over his online stream, where he “promoted deliberately false information” about civil infrastructure attacks and shelling of a Mariupol children’s hospital according to Russia’s investigators.

Journalist Michael Nacke is also indicted for “fakes” about the Russian army and is arrested in absentia.

The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office designated Novaya Gazeta Europe an “undesirable” organisation in Russia on 28 June and applied the same sanction to TV Rain on 25 July.