The managers of Russia's only independent TV news channel were dramatically sacked in a take-over by state dominated energy company Gazprom yesterday but they have refused to accept the decision.
Gazprom made its move, ousting managers in a special board meeting, just hours before President Putin made his state of the nation speech promising to open up the country to liberal economic forces.
The sackings come after a year of tension between the station, NTV, and the government, with allegations from journalists that they are being targeted because of their hard-hitting criticisms.
The station's owner, Mr Vladimir Gusinsky, is in jail in Spain, awaiting an extradition request from Russia on fraud charges. In the past 12 months NTV has had more than 20 raids by investigators and tax police, with station staff saying this amounts to official harassment.
The station has led the way in critical coverage of Mr Putin over the war in Chechnya, the Kursk submarine disaster, and corruption in government departments.
Yet it is vulnerable to Gazprom because it owes the firm several hundred million dollars in debts which it cannot pay. Gazprom officially holds 46 per cent of the shares of NTV, but yesterday morning won a court ruling that it is entitled to a further 19 per cent of shares because of the debts owed by the station.
Both Gazprom and Mr Putin have long denied that there is any political motivation behind the battle for control.
Journalists at NTV vowed to fight on. "We do not doubt that Vladimir Putin, as in the past, knows about what is happening and bears responsibility for the consequences," said a statement signed by NTV journalists.
The ousted station director and news anchorman, Yevgeny Kiselyov, accused the government of intimidating judges into backing the legality of the meeting, and said he would ignore it.