The Russian independent media's boycott against the State Duma is falling apart

The independent television network Dozhd has returned to Russia’s State Duma, roughly three months after withdrawing its parliamentary correspondents in protest against the Ethics Committee’s decision to take no action against deputy Leonid Slutsky, whom multiple journalists (including one Dozhd reporter) have accused of sexual harassment. Officials accredited Mikhail Rubin, Dozhd’s representative in the Kremlin press pool, to report from the State Duma, according to the newspaper Vedomosti.

Alexandra Perepelova, Dozhd’s chief editor, told the website TJournal that Rubin’s accreditation is necessary so the network can communicate with important information sources in the parliament. She insists, however, that Dozhd still has no plans “to cover the State Duma’s activities,” except when it comes to especially important events, which apparently included a visit by a delegation from the U.S. Congress on July 3, when Rubin and Dozhd deputy chief editor Maxim Glikin visited the State Duma building.

• On July 3, the popular Telegram news channel Zlobnyi Diplomat (Nasty Diplomat) reported that Dozhd and two other independent media outlets, RTVI and Znak.com, would soon end their boycotts of the State Duma. Znak.com later explained to TJournal that its Duma correspondent, Ekaterina Vinokurova, restored her parliamentary accreditation on her own. Vinokurova says she's only set foot in the State Duma building once since the start of the media boycott. RTVI says it is boycotting the State Duma “as an official newsmaker,” but the network has not forbidden correspondent Irina Nagornykh from meeting with State Duma deputies and sources at the parliament.