Putin blamed for TV shutdown

TV-6 staff describe the action against them as a coup

The head of Russia's last national independent television station has angrily blamed President Vladimir Putin for its forced closure.

The authorities pulled the plug on TV6 at midnight on Monday, abruptly ending its transmissions.

It looks like some kind of a television coup - the authorities today showed that their single goal is to gag us

TV-6 director Yevgeny Kiselyov

TV-6 viewers in Moscow on Tuesday found themselves watching sports programmes instead, while in St Petersburg the ballet Swan Lake was reportedly broadcast.

The Kremlin has insisted that the long-running row between the Russian authorities and TV-6 is based on its failure to make money.

But the closure has sparked fresh claims that the real issue is freedom of speech.

The BBC's Jacky Rowland in Moscow says the controversy is threatening to tarnish the image President Vladimir Putin has created for himself by supporting the US-led war on terrorism.

TV-6 was offered a deal if it dropped its boss - Boris Berezovsky

TV-6 has been a persistent critic of government policy, especially over the war in Chechnya.

"I have no doubt (the closure) was the president's decision," said TV-6 director Yeveny Kiselyov.

"Russia is heading towards an authoritarian and totalitarian regime."

TV-6's power supplies, telephone lines and internet connections have all been cut off, the station says.

If... TV-6 no longer exists in its present form, we will only be able to speak about free speech in this country in quotation marks

Liberal politician Boris Nemtsov

TV-6 anchorman Andrei Norkin, on his way to a meeting of angry station staff, told reporters: "Our government officials are very consistent. They did everything they could (to shut down the station)."

The closure of TV-6 comes only months after the forced shutdown of national news channel NTV, which was also noted for its willingness to criticise the government.

Most of NTV's staff had gone on to work for TV-6.

Russia's Press Minister, Mikhail Lesin, said it remained possible that TV-6 staff could win back their own licence if the firm could "organise itself and solve its problems".

President Putin's international standing could be threatened

Moves against the station came to a head earlier this month, when a court ruled that TV-6 should close because it was losing money.

But Mr Kiselyov has said the government had previously offered to do a deal with the station, under which its journalists could stay on air as long as they broke with TV-6's owner, Boris Berezovsky - a sharp critic of the government.

The journalists initially agreed to the deal, then backed out.

The case against TV-6 was brought by a subsidiary of the oil company, Lukoil, a minor shareholder closely linked to the government.

The head of Russia's leading liberal party, Boris Nemtsov of the Union of Right Forces warned that "if in April TV-6 no longer exists in its present form, we will only be able to speak about free speech in this country in quotation marks."