The statement says
that the move remains just a "small share" of the Ukrainian
government’s "consistent policy of repressions" against the media.
MOSCOW, May 16.
/TASS/. Ukraine remains reluctant to review its discriminatory policy against
Russian media websites and goes ahead with its access ban, the Russian Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"Once again, the
Ukrainian leadership demonstrated in practice that it has no plans to review
the discriminatory and illegitimate policy regarding Russian media
outlets," the foreign ministry said, commenting on Ukrainian President
Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to ban access to Russian websites and social media
on the Ukrainian territory.
"We view this
step as an act of direct censorship, aimed at removing alternative viewpoints
from the country’s information space. Such actions constitute a blatant
violation of fundamental principles of the international law, such as the
freedom of expression and equal access to information," the ministry said
in a statement.
The statement says
that the move remains just a "small share" of the Ukrainian
government’s "consistent policy of repressions" against the media.
Within the framework of this policy, the authorities toughen laws and state
regulations of the media sphere and resort to administrative and other forms of
pressure on journalists, whose lives and freedom have long been in danger as a
result of their professional activities.
"Up until now, a
series of murders of journalists remains unsolved, including the crimes of 2014
that claimed the lives of Andrei Stenin, Anton Voloshin, Igor Kornelyuk and
Anatoly Klyan," the ministry said.
Moreover, Moscow
views as inadmissible the Ukrainian government’s policy of abetting the
"Mirotvorets extremist website, which directly threatens the security of
journalists."
"We call upon
relevant international organizations and human rights NGOs, including OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir, to react properly. We also
ask Kiev’s European and overseas partners to explain how the Ukrainian
government’s policy corresponds to democratic values and principles," the
ministry said.
Ban on Russian
websites
On Friday, Ukrainian
President Vladimir Zelensky has approved a decision of the National Security
and Defense Council to extend a previously imposed ban on a number of Russian
websites and social networks for three more years, according to the official
website of the Ukrainian president.
The Ukrainian
National Security and Defense Council submitted its proposal with the president
on Wednesday requesting a prolongation of the national ban on Russian social
networks for three more years. The Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, passed
a resolution on May 13 requesting an extension of sanctions against
Russia-based Internet companies.
On May 15, 2017, then
Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko signed into effect a decision made by the
National Security and Defense Council on expanding the Russian sanctions list
of 1,228 Russian individuals and 468 legal entities.
Sanctions were
imposed on several TV channels and Internet companies, including 1C, ABBYY and
their Ukrainian subsidiaries. In addition, Russia’s VKontakte and Odnoklassniki
social networks, Mail.ru and Yandex companies were banned.
Source: ITAR-TASS
16-05-2020
