Kyiv bans Russia's independent TV Rain:
By RFE/RL
KYIV -- Ukraine has banned the prominent independent Russian television station Dozhd (Rain) TV from broadcasting in the country after a report identifying the boundary between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine as the Ukrainian-Russian border angered authorities in Kyiv.
The National Radio and TV Council ordered Ukrainian broadcasters to stop airing reports by Dozhd within about a month, Dozhd said. https://tvrain.ru/news/nats_po_ukraina-425256/
It quoted an official from the channel's Ukrainian partner, Volya, as saying the reason for the ban was that Dozhd had violated a prohibition on advertising.
The Interfax news agency, however, quoted a council member as saying Dozhd had failed to recognize Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity when it aired an image showing the boundary with Crimea as the state border, suggesting that Crimea is part of Russia.
Russia seized control of Crimea in 2014, but Kyiv and most of the rest of the world continue to consider the Black Sea peninsula part of Ukraine.
Dozhd Director Natalya Sindeyeva called the move "a pity."
The council has banned broadcasting of at least 35 Russian TV stations for infringing on national security and violating advertising regulations, according to Interfax. (w/Interfax)