European Federation of Journalists

EFJ and IFJ condemn ban on Russian media in Ukraine


The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) today condemned the updated sanctions list signed on 14 May by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and published yesterday which bans for three years Russian media organisations based in Ukraine, including Russian news agencies RIA Novosti, Rossiyasegodnya.rf, Sputniknews.com, Rsport.ria.ru, 1prime.ru, Realty.ria.ru and rian.com.ua. Russian TV channels rtr-planeta.com, russia.tv, vesti.ru, tvkultura.ru, digitalrussia.tv are also banned.

The move comes a week after a RIA Novosti journalist was detained in Kiev and accused of treason.

The decree introduces measures such as blocking of assets, limiting or stopping the provision of telecommunications services and the use of public telecommunications networks, blocking access to their web sites.

The IFJ and EFJ affiliate in Russia, RUJ, has also condemned such actions, which they consider an unprecedented act of political censorship.

Both Federations have submitted an alert of the case to the Council of Europe’s platform for the protection of journalism and safety of journalists.

Picture credit: RIA Novosti.