Netflix is suspending its streaming service inside Russia after the country passed a law that would require the industry giant to carry Russian state-owned channels. This happens amid Russia's invasion of the neighboring country of Ukraine.

"Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia," Netflix told Ars and other media outlets. Netflix stopped letting people in Russia sign up for new subscriptions and will prevent renewal of any existing subscriptions, a Netflix spokesperson told Ars. Once a subscriber's monthly billing period ends, the person's service will be halted.

Netflix previously said it would not comply with Russia's "Vitrina TV law," which would require it to carry 20 free-to-air Russian channels. "Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service," Netflix told media outlets last week.

The lineup of required channels includes the state-owned Channel One. A BBC article about how Russian TV channels report the invasion of Ukraine recounted a Channel One presenter stating "that Ukrainian troops 'are preparing to shell residential houses' and bomb warehouses with ammonia, in 'acts of provocation against civilians and Russian forces.'" Russia has been telling media outlets not to call the country's invasion of Ukraine "an attack," "invasion," or "declaration of war."

Channel One is led by Konstantin Ernst, who was described in a 2019 New Yorker profile as "the Kremlin's creative director" and "Putin's unofficial minister of propaganda."

Netflix was reportedly required to comply with the Vitrina law by March 1. The company also recently stopped production of four Russian-language programs that were in the works.

Netflix described its stoppage of service in Russia as a "suspension" rather than a permanent change and hasn't ruled out restarting service in the future. Netflix has under 1 million subscribers in Russia but hasn't provided a more specific user count. Netflix has 222 million paid subscriptions in over 190 countries.