Yulia Mendel, the press secretary of the President of Ukraine, commented on the sanctions applied against TV channels such as 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZiK. Mendel wrote that on Facebook.
"The decision of the NSDC (National Security and Defense Council) to apply sanctions against a number of TV channels was made according to Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On sanctions", the decree of the Verkhovna Rada N0.2589-VIII (October 4, 2018) and offers by the Security Service of Ukraine. The decision has been made within the legal framework of Ukrainian legislation. Previously, the NSDC also put restriction measures against Ukrainian citizens, including those who cooperated with the enemy on the occupied territories", wrote the press secretary.
According to her, blocking TV channels has nothing in common with the assault on freedom of speech. The decision, Mendel explained, was made in order to protect national security.
"These TV channels have long forgotten what are journalist standards, fact-checking or covering at least two different opinions. Instead, they turned into a propaganda tool, which is used in the interests of the aggressor state that broke the sovereignty and state borders of Ukraine. The funding of these channels from Russia has been already confirmed. The media became one of the tools of the war against Ukraine, so they are blocked to protect national security", Zelensky's press secretary concluded.
