Russian journalist Konstantin Goldenzweig resigns from state-funded channel NTV due to 'propaganda madness'

He announced his resignation on Facebook after 12 years at NTV

(EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images)

A Russian journalist has resigned from a state-funded TV channel, apologising for his part in in the "propaganda madness" that he believes the channel has broadcast.

Konstantin Goldenzweig was formerly a reporter for NTV, a pro-Kremlin TV channel owned by state gas company Gazprom.

Announcing his resignation on his Facebook page, he wrote in Russian: "I'm leaving NTV, where I worked intermittently for 12 years. Thanks to all my excellent colleagues who helped me, taught me, encouraged me and were my friends. And continue to be my friends. Thank you to those who watched."

"And sorry for the fact that in recent years I have sometimes participated in the general propaganda madness. There is only one banal conclusion - the deals with your own conscience are only as good as those you can cancel."

After his announcement, NTV released a compilation video of some of his reports, titling it 'Goodbye, Kostya!"

Following recent political unrest in Russia and Ukraine, the station has become more overtly pro-Kremlin. In 2012, it broadcast a documentary called The Anatomy of Protest, which alleged that Muscovites had been paid by shadowy opposition groups to take part in anti-government protests.

A sequel to this documentary, shown six months later, accused opposition leaders of planning high treason by forcefully seizing power.

A string of journalists for Russian-backed media organisations have resigned in recent years, angered at their growing part in the Kremlin's campaign of misinformation.

Liz Wahl, a newsreader for the American branch of state-funded TV channel Russia Today resigned live on air in April last year, saying she could no longer work for a network that she said "whitewashes the actions of Putin".

Sara Firth, a British journalist, resigned from the UK branch of Russia Today in July last year, saying on Twitter that Russia Today journalists "work for Putin", spread lies, and "obscure the truth".