Putin Secretly Honors 300 Journalists For 'Objective' Crimea Coverage

Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly gave out awards and medals to more than 300 media workers for their "objective" coverage of events in Crimea, reported "Vedomosti," one of the few relatively independent newspapers left in Russia in its May 5 edition. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the decision to "The Moscow Times," adding, however, that the Kremlin did "not plan to [provide] any details about it." Putin quietly signed the decree on April 22, one month after formally sealing an internationally unrecognized annexation of Crimea. Quoting a source familiar with the document, "Vedomosti" reported that the journalists were honored for their "high-level professionalism" and "objective coverage of events in Crimea" as Russian forces took control of the Ukrainian peninsula. The newspaper noted that the decree was not published on the presidential website.


http://www.rferl.org/content/putin-awards-journalists-objective-crimea-coverage/25373844.html