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Russian authorities have reportedly been scrambling to hide the locations of "secret bunkers" in Moscow.
Days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Roskomnadzor, a government body, demanded that YouTube take down a video of a lecture given by historian Dmitry Yurkov in April 2021. He was discussing a book he had written titled Soviet 'Secret Bunkers' Urban Special Fortification of the 1930s-1960s, and was highlighting in particular 'Bunker 703' in Moscow, which was declassified in 2018 and now operates as a museum, independent Latvia-based news outlet Meduza reported.
Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) describes itself on its website as a federal executive body responsible for overseeing the media, including the electronic media, and mass communications, information technology and telecommunications; overseeing compliance with the law protecting the confidentiality of personal data being processed; and organizing the work of the radio-frequency service.
The lecture was published in April 2021 on the YouTube channel "Underground Moscow," which is run by museum staff.
"Lecture by historian Dmitry Yurkov, dedicated to the declassified 'bunkers' of Moscow. Based on a new book about the history of Soviet special fortification. For the first time—about 'metro 2' and 'Stalin's bunkers' without fiction and myths, based on archival materials," the video's caption reads.
In February 2022, just before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion on his neighboring country, Roskomnadzor attempted to have the video taken down, Meduza reported.
Roskomnadzor employees wrote to YouTube's legal support service and said that the lecture allegedly disclosed "information constituting a state secret" and that "this information is used in the interests of the country's defense." Officials cited a December 2021 ruling from a court in Moscow that this information "is relevant and is not subject to declassification."
Roskomnadzor in March 2022 sent another notice to YouTube demanding that the lecture be removed. The video is available on video streaming platform.
It isn't clear whether the lecture contains "secret material," according to Meduza, but the news outlet cited a former employee with the museum as saying that after Yurkov's book was published, it started receiving official letters from the prosecutor's office and warnings from the oversight agency that it was checking the dissemination of information containing state secrets.
Yurkov has said that the information is declassified.
Newsweek reached out to YouTube and Russia's foreign ministry for comment via email.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more