'No to war': Entire staff of Russian news channel resigns in protest of Ukrainian invasion

• Dozhd channel makes decision after Russian authorities stop channel to cover Ukraine war.
• Channel says they have suspended operations for an unspecified period of time.
• Russia’s one of last remaining liberal radio stations Echo of Moscow has also been dissolved by its board for its coverage of war.

MOSCOW: An entire staff of a Russian TV channel resigned together live on-air after declaring “no to war” in their final telecast.

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war crisis, the Russian TV channel Dozhd made the decision after the Russian authorities barred the channel from covering the Ukraine war, according to NDTV. 

The video of the staff walking out together from the studio has gone viral after one of its employees Natalya Sindeeva said: "no to war". Later, the channel said that they have suspended the operations for an unspecified period of time.

After making an exit, the channel played “Swan Lake” ballet video that was shown on Russian TV channels when the Soviet Union collapsed.

"We need strength to ... understand how we can work from here. We really hope that we will return to broadcasting and continue our work," said Sindeeva in a statement published on the channel’s website.

Apart from that, Russia’s one of the last remaining liberal radio stations Echo of Moscow has been dissolved by its board for its coverage of the war.

Accusing Russia of launching a “full war on media freedom and the truth", the United States blocked independent news outlets, preventing Russians from hearing news regarding the war in Ukraine.

A statement issued by the State Department said: "Russia's government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russia's citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions.”

The statement further said that the Russians used social media to stay connected with each other and the outside world.