German newspaper pulls correspondents out of Russia

One of Germany's best known daily newspapers, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), has withdrawn its two correspondents in Russia, following the State Duma's passing of a law criminalizing "false reporting" with up to 15 years in jail, reported dpa.

"Foreign press agencies, broadcasters and newspapers therefore asked their correspondents and reporters to leave Moscow for the time being. The FAZ has also decided to do so," editor Berthold Kohler wrote in a FAZ editorial published on Monday.

German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, as well as CNN, Bloomberg and the BBC, have also completely or partially suspended their work in the country.

"The Putin regime is abolishing the last vestiges of press freedom in Russia with its censorship laws, which violate the Russian constitution," Kohler's editorial continues.

"Our correspondents will also continue to report on Russia to the best of their ability - from a place where they can speak and write freely without the threat of imprisonment. Still, there is nowhere they would rather do that than in Moscow."