The OSCE and the Council of Europe called for attention to the arrest of Zhytomyr journalist Vasily Muravitsky
The Ukrainian government is carrying out a total purge of the information space to suit the needs of the ruling regime, as evidenced by the arrest of Zhytomyr journalist Vasily Muravitsky, who is accused of collaborating with Russian media.
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This was stated in a commentary by the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Unfortunately, this is just another episode in the campaign promoted by Kiev under the pretext of fighting the “propaganda of the aggressor” for the brutal forceful suppression of opposition journalists and the total cleansing of the information space of Ukraine for the needs of the ruling regime. There are dozens of such cases: the latest, in particular, includes the persecution of the editor of the Internet portal “Strana.ua” Igor Guzhva.
Which, however, is not surprising, because quite recently none other than the head of the SBU, Mr. Gritsak, officially announced the need to conclude some kind of act of information unity in confronting “representatives of the fifth column of the Russian Federation” and subject them to criminal prosecution. It is quite obvious that any adequate Ukrainian journalist who crosses the path of official Kyiv can be appointed such an “enemy agent,” the Russian Foreign Ministry warns.
The statement notes that the massive closure of Russian news and Internet resources in Ukraine, large-scale persecution and forceful pressure on Ukrainian journalists are acts of flagrant violations of the fundamental principles of freedom of expression that underlie civilized ideas about the activities of the media and enshrined in the fundamental documents of the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and other relevant international organizations.
“Unfortunately, we have to admit that the “European path” in Ukrainian is a journey through time to the worst totalitarian practices of suppressing dissent. Once again, we call on the participating states of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as relevant international structures to join the Russian Federation in condemning Kyiv’s barbaric and criminal policy towards the media,” calls on the Russian Foreign Ministry.