CNN: nine things you won't find in Russia

The CNN television channel has compiled its list of prohibitions in Russia called “Forbidden. Nine things you won't find in Russia."

“Vladimir Putin's Russia has banned a lot of things in recent years. Some observers say it signals a human rights violation, while others find it amusing to outside observers,” CNN said.

1. Promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships. “In practice, this means that for conducting, say, a campaign in support of LGBT rights, activists can be held accountable,” the journalists write.

2. Anonymous blogs. According to Russian law adopted last year, blogs with more than three thousand daily visitors (including social media platforms) are required to register as media and follow the rules established by the law of Russia for the media. Critics say the law limits freedom of speech.

3. "Western food." Moscow banned imports many products from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and other countries - in response to Western sanctions imposed on Russia for its participation in the conflict in Ukraine.

4. US Senator John McCain denied entry to Russia and other European and American officials as part of Russian “punitive sanctions” against the West. As the channel's journalists note, McCain does not seem too concerned about this ban.

5. "Memes." They are also prohibited because there is a law prohibiting images that do not show public figures properly and may “defame their honor, dignity and business reputation.”

6. Tom hardy film "Number 44" about a security officer and a maniac, banned in Russia and recalled by a Russian distributor from a number of countries.

7. Swearing or foul language in movies and television programs or other cultural events. For violation of this prohibition, an individual faces a fine of up to 2500 rubles (40 dollars), while companies will have to pay 50000 rubles (700 dollars).

8. Sites that Russia may consider illegal. The country has the right to close, without a court decision, any website that it considers illegal. The law is intended to protect children from harmful content, but it has been criticized by Reporters Without Borders for its lack of transparency.

9. Lacy underwear. In 2013, a law was passed that applies to the countries of the Customs Union, according to which clothing was prohibited where the fabric (that touches the body) contains six percent or less cotton. “But the most beautiful underwear is made from materials with a cotton content of less than four percent and, therefore, it is prohibited,” the author of the list summarizes.

The greatest publicity in the press recently received the destruction of sanctions products in Russia.

So, from August 7 past 2014, Russia imposed embargo on deliveries of food products from Western countries: USA, EU, Canada, Australia and Norway. Prohibited are meat and meat products, fish and fish products, milk and dairy products, vegetables and fruits. The embargo extended until August 2016.

A year later, Russia decided to deal with such supplies more radically. The destruction of products from Western countries that fell under the embargo in Russia began on August 6, according to presidential decree Vladimir Putin.

Products may be destroyed “by any available means.”​ First photos and video hundreds of tons of food — cheese, peach, pepper, meat — are bulldozed and mixed with the ground, provoking public disturbance in Russia, which survived more than one famine, and the poverty level of the population in which reaches already 16%.