"The Russian state continues its crusade against independent journalism."

It - words from a report by the international organization Reporters Without Borders, which published a press freedom rating in 180 countries.

Russia ended up between Djibouti and Nicaragua. However, over the past year, it improved its ranking by two spots, moving up from 164th to 162nd place.

«A two-place move up in the World Press Freedom Index comes as the situation worsens in other countries and masks a drop in the overall score: the list of journalists and media outlets labeled by the government as “foreign agents” or “undesirable” continues to grow, and journalists continue to be subjected to arbitrary arrests."," the report notes.

Experts emphasize that only two countries compete with Russia: Belarus (167th place), where the regime persecutes journalists under the pretext of fighting “extremism,” and Turkmenistan (175th place), where the president, who has unlimited powers, prohibits any independent information.

According to Reporters Without Borders, more than 1500 journalists have already left Russia since the war with Ukraine began.

The situation with press freedom is better in Djibouti, Somalia, Honduras and Venezuela than in Russia.

The top three places in the ranking are occupied by Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with Eritrea in last place.