Russia fines Wikimedia $36,900 for refusal to remove prohibited information

Moscow, June 6 (EFECOM).- A Russian court today fined the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent non-profit organization of the digital encyclopedia Wikipedia, three million rubles ($36,900) for its refusal to remove an article on the ultranationalist battalion Ukrainian Azov, declared a terrorist organization in Russia.

According to the case documents, the Russian communications regulator, Roscomnadzor, previously sent Wikipedia the corresponding request about the need to remove the information, which is considered prohibited in Russia.

Wikimedia has been fined nine times in 2023 for publishing various articles about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine.

Herewith, the total amount of fines imposed on Wikimedia amounts to 19.5 million rubles (over $239,700).

The Azov battalion was created in 2014 in the city of Mariupol, on the shores of the Mariupol sea, and has been fully integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine since the end of that year.

It was founded by members of the far right to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and first gained fame for retaking Mariupol from Russian forces in June 2014.

However, they gained worldwide notoriety in the ongoing Russian military campaign in Ukraine for their resistance in critical conditions at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol until their complete surrender in May.

Almost 2,500 soldiers left Azovstal, many of whom are still prisoners of Russia. EFECOM

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