MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council has announced the creation of a new international TV channel to promote Ukrainian values, the deputy secretary of the council said Wednesday on Facebook.
"Ukraine needs foreign broadcasting in English and Russian languages to communicate the Ukrainian position," Viktoria Siumar said.
According to Siumar, the station’s purpose is "to promote the values of the new Ukraine," adding that the country should not remain under "authoritarian Russia" and "wants a successful social transformation."
Siumar stressed that the channel was created with the aim of “not copying the Russian propaganda model,” accusing the RT channel of lying and creating staged videos.
The channel will be public and will broadcast in CIS countries, Europe and the United States. "We have an opportunity to fill our channel with modern and high-quality information product," she said.
The statement came amid the recent detention of Russian journalists by Ukrainian law enforcement. Siumar called two employees of the Russian TV channel LifeNews detained on Tuesday "terrorists", as they were found with portable surface-to-air missiles.
However, no evidence of the missiles being seized from the car of Russian journalists has been provided by Ukrainian special services.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic condemned the persecution of the correspondents. "Journalists covering the crisis in Ukraine are an easy target for the conflicting parties. Again, I call on all parties to stop the intimidation of the media, and let them do their job," she wrote in a letter to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov urging Kiev to release the detained journalists.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been reaching out to foreign partners to secure their release.
“When we got the information that they are detained in the territory of the military unit and charged with terrorism, we immediately tried to do what we could. I spoke with the OSCE Chairman-President of Switzerland Didier Burkhalter and urged him to use his authority and powers to achieve their immediate release,” he said.
Despite the claims of government officials, the journalists have not yet been released. Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov recommended Kiev release the journalists or face tough measures.
