In Donbass, providers returned Russian channels allegedly due to threats and pressure
Donetsk - Lugansk, April 22 (Navigator, Victoria Litovchenko) - In the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, almost all cable television providers have included prohibited Russian channels in their packages.
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Many local companies put channels on the air because they received constant demands and threats, says Vasily Anipchenko, president of the Ukrteleset association.
“In Dobropolye, the office of a local television provider was burned down. It’s good that the people who carried out the arson did not know where the main broadcasting station was,” he was quoted as saying by Capital.
Anipchenko noted that providers are now rebroadcasting Russian open, unencrypted satellite versions of TV channels, since the distributor Torsat was prohibited from broadcasting their Ukrainian versions in Ukraine by court order.
According to Anipchenko, only the Volya group decided not to resume broadcasting Russian channels.
“We are fulfilling the court’s requirement,” explained Volya president Sergei Boyko. According to him, company representatives were also threatened and demanded to turn on Russian channels, but they managed to come to an agreement.
The National Council cannot promptly influence the current situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions: information about violations is so far simply recorded.
Terrestrial television in the eastern region remains largely under the control of the Kyiv authorities. The only exception is the transmission center in Kramatorsk seized by pro-Russian activists, which, according to experts, can only be liberated by force. Currently, terrestrial TV subscribers in the coverage area of this television tower cannot watch Ukrainian TV channels “1+1”, STB, “First National”, “Channel 5”, “Ukraine”. Instead, they are broadcast by Rossiya 24, ORT, RTR, and NTV+.
Let us recall that in March the Kyiv District Administrative Court made a decision in accordance with which the broadcast of Russian television channels in Ukraine was suspended while the claim of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting was considered.
In Donbas , providers have returned Russian channels, allegedly due to threats and pressure.