Interview with Dozhd editor-in-chief: “Russia will become dictatorial”

As one of the last channels critical of the Kremlin, Doschd TV has ceased operations. In an interview with the daily topics editor-in-chief Tikhon Dsjadko talks about new laws against journalists – and how Russia will develop.

daily topics: Doschd TV has been a thorn in the side of the state apparatus for years. So you’re used to pressure from the authorities, but you bravely resisted. Now they have shut down operations entirely. Why now?

Tikhon Dzyadko: The situation is totally different from what we have experienced in Russia in the last 20, 30 years. Russia has started a war in Ukraine. Russia is fighting civil society and journalists.

We’ve been under pressure for a long time, but the situation has changed completely and that’s why we decided to stop broadcasting. Tomorrow* the State Duma will meet and discuss a new law that allows the state apparatus to imprison journalists for up to 15 years for spreading alleged fake news about the Russian army. They go to jail.

Dozhd and Dozhd’s journalists are of course at the top of the list. So we had to make a decision – and we had a choice: do we stop working? Or do we stop spreading the truth about the war? We chose the first option.

[* Das Interview wurde bereits am Donnerstagabend geführt. Die Sitzung der Staatsduma hat mittlerweile stattgefunden, das Parlament stimmte für die Gesetzesänderung. Unter Strafe stehen laut Gesetzestext konkret das Verbreiten vermeintlicher Falschinformationen über russische Soldaten, das Diskreditieren russischer Streitkräfte und auch Aufrufe zu Sanktionen gegen Russland. Es drohen demnach hohe Geldstrafen und bis zu 15 Jahre Haft.]

Back to the “dark Soviet times”

daily topics: What development do you see for your country considering the actions taken against the media and protests? What are we heading for?

Dzyadko: I believe that Putin will find his ways and means to send us back to the dark years of the Soviet era. The development is quite simple: the oppression keeps getting worse. There will be no more political life, there will be no more independent discussions. Russia will be less authoritarian and more dictatorial.

escape abroad

daily topics: Can you tell us something about your personal situation? What’s next for you now? We hear children’s voices in the background.

Dzyadko: Yes, those are the children in the background. My wife, who is also a journalist and works for Doschd, and I decided yesterday to leave the country because it is simply not safe for us there anymore. So we are no longer in Russia and we are now analyzing our options. We hope that we will soon know what will happen to us and how to proceed.

daily topics: What will happen to Doschd TV?

Dzyadko: If you ask what I believe: I believe in truth, I believe in love, I believe in freedom. Doschd actually means “Doschd – optimistic TV broadcaster” in full. So I think it will end well in the end. I don’t know when, I’m not sure. But I know that eventually, eventually, it will be good.

The interview was conducted by Ingo Zamperoni for the daily topics. It was edited and edited for publication on tagesschau.de.