KIEV (Sputnik) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law a ban on all Russian films and television serials in the country.
“[The ban] was returned [to parliament] with the president’s signature,” according to a certificate accompanying the document published on the Ukrainian parliament’s official website.
In February, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law banning films illustrating Russia’s military forces. Though an attempt was made in the parliament to challenge the new law, the Verkhovna Rada approved the bill that prohibits the screening of Russian films and serials.
According to local media, volunteer battalion commanders sent an open letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, asking him to stop broadcasting Russian films or TV series in October 2014.
Since the launch of the military campaign against eastern Ukrainian independence supporters, media freedom in Ukraine has been severely restricted.
On February 12, the Verkhovna Rada stripped Russian news outlets of government agency accreditation. All Russian TV channels except, for Dozhd, had accreditation canceled.
