Sputnik: How significant is this arrest and raid?
Xavier Moreau: In my opinion there are different interpretations. The first one is that Kiev, after the opening of the Crimea Bridge, as you know the propaganda over the past 4 years in Ukraine; Kiev continually stated that it was impossible for Russia to build this bridge. In actual fact Russia did build this bridge, earlier than expected.
Secondly, the Kiev government is preparing actively elections for next year and is starting to increase the pressure on the independent media including the Russian ones, inside the Ukrainian territories. They want to stress around the situation and try to put pressure on Russia in any way they can.
Sputnik: Why are western media outlets so reluctant about reporting it?
Xavier Moreau: If you look at how the media is treated in Ukraine you will see there is no real freedom of speech. When some of the channels try and make some form of independent speech, they are attacked by Ukrainian organizations and we basically know that all these organizations are funded by oligarchs. There is no freedom speech in Ukraine, they the use no news concept and refuse to talk about ethics.
Sputnik: What does the future for journalists and foreign media outlets in Ukraine?
Xavier Moreau: I think it depends on how Russia will react as well as how western countries react but if Kiev sees that there is no serious objection from the West and Russia does not respond, they will continue to close down media, including non-Russian foreign media.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
