Russian media resignations follow increased pressure

[...] that could indicate that management wanted to rein in the reporting, which has included accounts of corruption, the lucrative activities of a woman believed to be Putin's daughter and a profile of a wealthy cello-player and Putin associate later identified in the Panama Papers as a conduit for Russian offshore money.

An RBC editor who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about internal matters told the AP that the resignations were triggered by the publication of an investigation on Wednesday about an oyster farm near a mansion that a Russian whistleblower has described as "Putin's palace."

RBC did not identify her outright as one of Putin's daughters, but a prominent independent journalist and two international media outlets quoted named and unnamed sources confirming that.

"RBC has been bold and charging forward to cover the subjects that their colleagues for some reason have thought to be too dangerous and a taboo to pursue," said Mikhail Zygar, a Russian journalist and author of the best-selling book All the Kremlin's Men, referring to the investigations about Tikhonova and Shamalov.

Zygar, who interviewed numerous Kremlin insiders for his book about Putin's rise to power, says Kremlin press handlers never gave anyone exact guidelines on what was off-limits, but journalists must have taken Kremlin reaction to some publications as a sign.

An editor at RBC who asked to be unnamed because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and a prominent former media executive with close ties to RBC said the three investigations enraged the Kremlin so much that Kremlin officials openly told Prokhorov to gag the reporters or sell out.

Presidential administration officials at Kremlin briefings with editors of major Russian media outlets used to be "jocular" with RBC about its reporting, the RBC editor told the AP.