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Open Address of Ukrainian Media to the European Commission

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Open Address of Ukrainian Media to the European Commission

12-03-2022

To the President of the European Commission,

Mrs Ursula von der Leyen

and the Vice President of the European Commission,

Mrs Věra Jourová We express our deepest respect and appeal to you on behalf of all Ukrainian journalists, the media community, creative industry representatives, and the whole invincible Ukrainian nation. The world will forever remember the date of February 24, 2022 — the morning when the Russian army brutally and violently invaded peaceful Ukraine. Today, Putin's regime is destroying Ukrainian cities and towns with missiles and bombs, killing thousands of people, depriving small children of their lives, causing humanitarian crises, holding cities hostage, and threatening to start a nuclear catastrophe, which can harm the whole world. And all of the above mentioned is happening in the 21st century in the very heart of Europe. Apart from unfolding war on our country’s territory, Russia has been waging information warfare for years. Today, Putin's propaganda machine is operating at its peak capacity, using the most cynical manipulations, obvious lies, and disinformation on a massive scale. This can be proved by a significant amount of evidence, and if necessary, we are ready to consolidate and present it to you. Russian TV channels are justifying the war against Ukraine in their multiple news stories. They are concealing the truth about the real scale of the military actions and their own losses. Besides, they are discrediting Ukrainian authorities and international partners, thus undermining democratic values and principles and questioning freedom of speech as the basis of European values. Russian mass media are generating an enormous amount of fake news, thus deceiving their audience not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the EU countries and in the United States of America. Moreover, Russians living both in the Russian Federation and abroad focus on the information spread by the Russian media, which in fact deprives them of access to unbiased information or at least an alternative point of view. Turning off the broadcast of RT and Sputnik TV channels on the territory of Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in the western part of the Russian Federation has become a crucial step aimed at reducing the influence of Russian propaganda based on the language of hostility and misinformation. The influence of other channels, such as RT News, RTR Planeta, Rossiya 24, NTV Mir, Soiuz, 8 Kanal International, Pobeda International, 1 Kanal Europa, RT France, which are controlled by the aggressor state and still broadcasting via European satellites, is also detrimental to informational security of the whole world, since the editorial policy of these channels is completely controlled by the state, which is why these media are used as mouthpieces of Russian propaganda. At the same time, not all European companies are ready to break off cooperation with their Russian business partners in terms of spreading these Russian propagandistic media, as almost the entire civilized world is doing right now. In this regard, we kindly ask you to take the following actions: ● Impose sanctions on all Russian TV channels which are broadcasting by satellites or any other technology, and ban their spreading on the EU territory;

To the President of the European Commission,

Mrs Ursula von der Leyen

and the Vice President of the European Commission,

Mrs Věra Jourová

We express our deepest respect and appeal to you on behalf of all Ukrainian journalists, the media community, creative industry representatives, and the whole invincible Ukrainian nation. The world will forever remember the date of February 24, 2022 — the morning when the Russian army brutally and violently invaded peaceful Ukraine. Today, Putin's regime is destroying Ukrainian cities and towns with missiles and bombs, killing thousands of people, depriving small children of their lives, causing humanitarian crises, holding cities hostage, and threatening to start a nuclear catastrophe, which can harm the whole world. And all of the above mentioned is happening in the 21st century in the very heart of Europe.

Apart from unfolding war on our country’s territory, Russia has been waging information warfare for years. Today, Putin's propaganda machine is operating at its peak capacity, using the most cynical manipulations, obvious lies, and disinformation on a massive scale. This can be proved by a significant amount of evidence, and if necessary, we are ready to consolidate and present it to you.

Russian TV channels are justifying the war against Ukraine in their multiple news stories. They are concealing the truth about the real scale of the military actions and their own losses. Besides, they are discrediting Ukrainian authorities and international partners, thus undermining democratic values and principles and questioning freedom of speech as the basis of European values. Russian mass media are generating an enormous amount of fake news, thus deceiving their audience not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the EU countries and in the United States of America. Moreover, Russians living both in the Russian Federation and abroad focus on the information spread by the Russian media, which in fact deprives them of access to unbiased information or at least an alternative point of view.

Turning off the broadcast of RT and Sputnik TV channels on the territory of Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in the western part of the Russian Federation has become a crucial step aimed at reducing the influence of Russian propaganda based on the language of hostility and misinformation. The influence of other channels, such as RT News, RTR Planeta, Rossiya 24, NTV Mir, Soiuz, 8 Kanal International, Pobeda International, 1 Kanal Europa, RT France, which are controlled by the aggressor state and still broadcasting via European satellites, is also detrimental to informational security of the whole world, since the editorial policy of these channels is completely controlled by the state, which is why these media are used as mouthpieces of Russian propaganda. At the same time, not all European companies are ready to break off cooperation with their Russian business partners in terms of spreading these Russian propagandistic media, as almost the entire civilized world is doing right now.

In this regard, we kindly ask you to take the following actions:

● Impose sanctions on all Russian TV channels which are broadcasting by satellites or any other technology, and ban their spreading on the EU territory;

● Instead of Russian TV channels, recommend providers to broadcast Ukrainian TV, which has been currently broadcasting the “United News“ marathon, also available in English (the attached file includes technical parameters). The international community should have uninterrupted access to unbiased and truthful information on events in Ukraine. We count on your support and believe in the glorious future of Ukraine, which will determine the future of the whole world.

Yours sincerely,

Yaroslav Pakholchuk, CEO of 1+1 Media

Oleksandr Bohutsky, CEO of Starlight Media, Head of News Division

Yevheniy Bondarenko, Director of Media Group Ukraine

Hanna Bezliudna, Head of Inter Media Group

Olha Herasymiuk, Head of National Television and Radio broadcasting Council of Ukraine

Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy

Mykola Chernotytsky, Chairman of Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, JSC

Natalia Lygachova, NGO “Detector Media”

Sergiy Popov, Head of TSN News (Television News Services) on 1+1 TV channel

Yuliya Zhmakina, Head of the Breakfast with 1+1, the Life of Famous People, the Your Day, the Your Evening TV projects

Svitlana Paniushkina, Head of TSN.ua news website

Mykhailo Gannytskyi, Editor-in-chief of UNIAN information agency

Ulyana Kondratenko, Head of Hlavred news website

Detailed information on the signatories who will join the open letter will be stored at this link.

Technical parameters of TV channels, mentioned in the letter here.

Information in Spanish.

Information in German.