The reason for haste is clear enough. Zdanovich had a press conference planned for March 24, at which he intended to go for the mass media, and the presidential election was set for March 26.Following the shameful defeat of Zdanovich and his colleagues in Nikolaev s studio, the leadership of the FSB decided not to take part in anymore open debates with the public and not to go to NTV any more. It was during these fateful days for the entire country that the FSB also decided to launch the planned annihilation of NTV. On the evening of March 26, the day of the election, in Yevgeny Kiselyov s program Summing Up, Boris Nemtsov stated publicly that NTV was in danger of being closed down because it had shown Nikolaiev s program The Ryazan sugar-secret services exercise or failed bombing? I don t know what s going to happen to NTV. After one of the authors, Nikolaiev I think his name was, told his version of the bombings in Moscow and other cities. I think there is now a real threat hanging over NTV& I believe it is my duty to protect NTV if any attempts are made to close it down.
