The editor-in-chief of Kremlin-funded television network RT claimed Monday that all channel’s bank accounts in Britain have been closed.
Margarita Simonyan said via Twitter that RT had received a ruling that cannot be appealed, sarcastically adding: "Long live freedom of speech."
"Our accounts have been blocked in Britain. All of our accounts. 'The decision cannot be appealed'. Long live freedom of speech!" Simonyan wrote.
RT, formerly known as Russia Today, broadcasts round the clock in English, Arabic and Spanish. It was set up to present news from the perspective of the Kremlin.
The channel's target audiences are primarily in Europe and in the United States, and it has a British outlet called RT UK that broadcasts from London.
Simonyan did not say why the accounts had been blocked. However, there is an ongoing case involving claims against Moscow from shareholders of the now defunct oil firm Yukos, founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Kremlin’s opponent and a former prisoner. That case has led to freezes of Russian assets abroad including those of state media.
