The suspension comes into force starting Monday and will last until February 21, with the ban affecting all media relaying RTR Planeta programs, including the internet television.
RTR Planeta, as well as the NTV Mir Lithuania channel, resumed broadcasting in Lithuania earlier this year after the Radio and Television Commission received a warning from the European Commission on its possible beaches of EU broadcasting rules.
In early 2014, the two channels were relegated to a paid service due to allegations of incitement of ethnic hatred. In a similar incident in January 2015, broadcasts by Russia's Ren-TV Baltiya channel were suspended because its editorial line diverged from official Lithuanian government positions on the interpretations of certain events in Lithuanian history and its coverage of events in Ukraine.
Lithuania's practice of clamping down on Russian media has been a part of a trend across the three Baltic states over recent years, prompting criticism from Russia. In September, the Russian Foreign Ministry commented Estonia's refusal to grant entry to a Rossiya Segodya international news agency reporter by calling the practice a coordinated effort by Baltic states to target Russian journalists.
