After the closure of 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK, the Office of the President said they saw no reason to close other channels. Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the office, told about this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
I still do not see a connection between closed channels of Medvedchuk and such channels as Pryamyi, 5 TV channel, Nash, etc. Yes, ideologically, these channels look very strange .. . ", - Podoliak said.
He noted that some channels no longer broadcast news.
"However, despite the fact that it looks ideologically strange, politically it looks useless, in terms of influencing where the state should move andhow it should develop, it has no influence at all," Podoliak added.
On February 2, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on sanctions against 112 Ukraine, NewsONE and ZiK TV channels. By this decree, he enforced the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on sanctions on the cancellation of the broadcasting licenses of the TV channels belonging to Taras Kozak (112 Ukraine, NewsOne, ZIK). According to the decree that is eligible since the moment of signature, the TV channels faced sanctions that will be active for five years. These sanctions make the broadcasting impossible.
After the TV channels closed, the Chairman of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine stated that the decision of the President of Ukraine was an attack on freedom of speech by the authorities .
In addition, Zelensky's decision was condemned by a number of European politicians and the media.
112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZiK TV channels consider the imposition of sanctions as a political lynching of objectionable media.