Moscow announced on Tuesday its decision to block access to 81 prominent European media outlets across Russia. This move comes in retaliation to European Union sanctions that restrict the distribution of Russian TV channels and internet media due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that the banned publications include leading media from over 20 countries. Among them are well-known outlets such as Germany's "Spiegel" and "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", Spain's "El Mundo" and "El Pais", France's "Le Monde", "Libération", and Agence France Presse, Italy's "La Stampa" and "La Repubblica", as well as Brussels-based publications like "Politico" and "EUObserver".

Two Bulgarian media outlets, "Mediapool" and "24 Chasa", are also listed in Moscow's blacklist, alongside other international media that have been critical of Russian policies or reported extensively on the conflict in Ukraine.

The tit-for-tat measures highlight escalating tensions between Russia and the EU, with both sides resorting to media restrictions as part of broader diplomatic and economic sanctions imposed since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.