Belarus removes Russian channels

By Chris Dziadul

Belarus has taken off five Russian TV channels from its cable networks.

According to AFP, the decision to remove the channels in question – NTV, TV Centre, Ren TV, Channel One and TVC1 – was made by the Union of Telecommunications Employees following an increase in fees for their delivery.

However, industry sources believe the move has a political motive having been brought about by criticism of the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in some of the Russian channels.