Russia Today claims UK bank accounts have been 'frozen'

Kremlin-run Russia Today (RT) has claimed that that UK bank NatWest has frozen all of its accounts in the country.

Margarita Simonyan, RT's editor-in-chief, tweeted: "They've closed our accounts in Britain. All our accounts. 'The decision is not subject to review.' Praise be to freedom of speech!"

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RT said the entire Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), of which NatWest is part, is refusing to have the broadcaster among its clients. No explanation was reportedly given about the decision.

It added that NatWest wrote to its London office, saying: "We have recently undertaken a review of your banking arrangements with us and reached the conclusion that we will no longer provide these facilities."

Mashable contacted RBS for comment. A spokesperson said they "weren't aware" of the issue but said they would release a comment soon.

Russia Today has previously been sanctioned by Ofcom for "biased reporting".

UPDATE: Oct. 17 19:48 PM BST:

RBS issued a statement to Mashable via email.

“These decisions are not taken lightly," the company said. "We are reviewing the situation and are contacting the customer to discuss this further. The bank accounts remain open and are still operative.”