The world has been reminded in the past few weeks of the critical importance of a free press.

Journalists have risked their lives to report on what is really happening in Ukraine, exposing as cynical propaganda the Kremlin’s claim that this is only a “special military operation”. A Sky News crew was shot at last week in an ambush; one member, Stuart Ramsay, was hit in the back and is now recovering in the UK. On Twitter, the Prime Minister praised these reporters’ courage, adding that the “free press will not be intimidated or cowed by barbaric and indiscriminate acts of violence”.

These words are unlikely to have been readable in Russia, however, where Twitter and Facebook have been blocked, and the authorities have closed down independent media outlets. The result is a Russian public denied the truth about what is happening in their name. Kremlin-approved media has been instructed to use only information provided by officials, continuing to claim that this is a limited operation or, equally false, that Ukrainians are using human shields. 

On Friday, Putin went further and signed a chilling bill into law that threatens jail terms of up to 15 years for publishing “fake news” about the Russian army, along with another bill that promises fines and jail sentences for anyone who calls for sanctions against the nation. This has resulted in even foreign media organisations suspending their reporting in Russia to protect their journalists. The change to the law appears designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal. 

This is a step closer to totalitarianism in a country where it was already difficult to tell the truth. It is, moreover, a further reminder of what is at stake in this conflict.