Ukraine Urged To Reverse Ban On Broadcasts Of Independent Russian TV Station
Ukrainian authorities should “immediately” cancel an order banning a prominent independent Russian television station from broadcasting in the country, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says.
The National Radio and TV Council (NRTC) on January 12 ordered Ukrainian broadcasters to stop airing reports by Dozhd (Rain) within about a month, the Moscow-based channel said.
“This ham-handed censorship will deprive Russian-speaking Ukrainian viewers of a counterpoint to Russian state-controlled media,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said in January 13 statement.
Dozhd cited 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, cited 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.
Main news from overnight:
U.S. President Barack Obama on January 13 extended all U.S. sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine by one year through March 2018.
The move appears designed to make it harder for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to roll back the sanctions after Obama leaves office on January 20. Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russia and would take a second look at the sanctions, although several of his chosen cabinet members said this week that they support the sanctions.
In extending the sanctions, which were due to expire in March 2017, Obama said the Russian government and other people and organizations targeted by the sanctions have "undermined democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine" by their "use of force in Ukraine" and thereby "threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
Because of the threat to Ukraine, Obama said, Russia's actions "pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."
The European Union has parallel sanctions on Russia that are due to expire in July. Italy and other EU members have said they would push to end the sanctions, especially if Trump carries out a softening of U.S. policy towards Russia.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.