The resignations, involving Kommersant's entire political staff, highlight tensions between publishers and newspaper staff in Russia's closely-controlled media landscape, which is dominated by pro-Kremlin state outlets. Kommersant, a leading business broadsheet acquired by Usmanov in 2006, said it was not immediately able to respond to a Reuters request for comment. A representative for Usmanov said separately that "the shareholder does not interfere in editorial policy let alone make decisions on dismissing or employing journalists." Spokesmen for Matviyenko and Naryshkin at the time dismissed the report, which is still available on Kommersant's website, as "rumours". "Maybe there is someone among our readers who can explain to ... Usmanov and Streshinsky that right now they are destroying one of Russia's best media," she said.

Source: bd News24 May 20, 2019 16:18 UTC