Two Years After Russia Declared Us “Undesirable,” We’re Still Reporting
Millions of people in Russia can no longer legally support our journalism. If you live outside Russia, we need your help more than ever.
They tried to silence us. We kept reporting.
Over the past four years, the Russian authorities have steadily escalated their campaign against independent journalism.
New wartime censorship laws made independent reporting from inside Russia impossible. We moved our newsroom to Amsterdam and continued our work.
The Justice Ministry stamped our name with a label designed to scare away readers, advertisers and sources.
The state’s strongest sanction against the press: inside Russia, people can now face legal consequences simply for supporting or sharing our work.
Why “undesirable”?
“The outlet's work is intended to discredit the decisions of Russia's leadership in both foreign and domestic policy.”
We’ll leave that judgment to our readers.
Don't take our word for it
“The Moscow Times is a sober, balanced and solid publication that scrupulously respects journalism ethics. The reason why it has been labeled an undesirable organization can therefore only be one: to further restrict its access to readers and to intimidate its contributors.”
“We will continue with our work as usual — independent journalism. That is a crime in Putin's Russia.”
In hitting us with this label, the Russian authorities hoped that we would no longer be able to report on Russia in an engaging, objective way — and that our readers would stop paying attention.
Instead, the opposite happened.
We are infinitely grateful to you for this support. It’s what keeps us going and allows us to continue serving both our Russian- and English-speaking audiences. Thank you — and please, keep it up!
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Questions you might have
If you live outside Russia and are not a Russian citizen, yes. Russia’s “undesirable organizations” law applies to people under Russian jurisdiction, not to foreign supporters abroad. The most significant consequence for a foreign donor would generally be being denied entry to Russia. The law is also intended to discourage people from supporting independent media, which is why international support is so important. If you are a Russian citizen or regularly travel to Russia, we strongly encourage you not to donate. Your safety comes first. The best way to support us is by reading our journalism and sharing it where you can.
No. We never publish the names of supporters without their explicit permission, and we do not sell or share donor information. Payments are processed securely by Mollie, a regulated Dutch payment provider. Your payment details are handled by Mollie and are never stored on our servers.
Your support funds our journalism. It helps pay the reporters and editors covering Russia from exile, the technology that keeps our reporting accessible to readers inside Russia despite censorship, and the legal and operational costs of running an independent newsroom outlawed by the Kremlin. We do not receive funding from any government, and we can no longer rely on advertising revenue from inside Russia. Reader support is what makes our work possible.
One-time donations are enormously helpful. Monthly support gives us something equally important: stability. Predictable funding allows us to plan our reporting, invest in long-term investigations and give our newsroom the confidence to focus on journalism rather than fundraising. If a monthly contribution isn’t right for you, we’re just as grateful for a one-time donation.
Yes. You can increase your monthly contribution at any time using the “Increase Your Monthly Support” button. If you’d like to pause or cancel your support, simply email support@themoscowtimes.com. We’ll take care of it right away.
Be One of the Hundred
Supporting us is a crime inside Russia. If you’re outside the country, becoming a monthly supporter takes just a few minutes — and helps keep independent reporting on Russia alive.