EXCLUSIVE: Ukrainian media giants have written an open letter to President Ursula von der Leyen, asking for sanctions against all Russian TV channels.
The group, which includes the heads of 1+1 Media, Starlight Media, Inter Media Group and members of the Ukrainian government, asked von der Leyen and her Vice President Věra Jourová to instead recommend European news providers to watch Ukrainian TV news.
The biggest media organizations in Ukraine joined forces after the Russian invasion two days ago to broadcast 24/7 United NewsNewcast is used to keep the country updated.
“Russian TV channels are justifying the Russian war against Ukraine in their multiple news stories, they are withholding the truth about the real scale of the military actions and their own losses,”The open letter, in which the Russians were accused of stealing, stated these words. “generating an enormous amount of fake news.”
The letter demanded that sanctions were imposed “on all Russian TV channels which are broadcasting by satellites or any other technology”And to “ban their distribution on EU territory.”
It listed RTR Planeta (Rosiya 24), NTV Mir and NTV Mir among the channels that it considered to be reliable. “detrimental to informational security of the whole world.”
Open letter was signed by NGO staff and members of the media.
The move is Ukraine’s latest in its attempt to convince the world to impose “media sanctions” on Putin’s Russia, with the information war seen as one of the key battlegrounds of the conflict.
The open letter welcomed the EU’s move to shut down access to news services RT and Sputnik. Google Europe has also blocked these provider’s YouTube channels and they are being investigated by UK regulator Ofcom.