Persecution and attacks on independent Ukrainian journalists cast a shadow on the reputation of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Such methods are reminiscent of the times of Yanukovych.
This is stated in the article of the well-known British newspaper Financial Times, "Ukrainian media becomes target of pro-Zelenskyy "information army", which was published today.
"A series of attacks and slander campaigns against prominent Ukrainian journalists has cast a shadow over Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reputation for protecting media freedom. While journalists have been subject to online intimidation and slander campaigns in the past, over the past few days this has turned into real-life harassment," the Financial Times writes.
The reason for the publication was attacks on the investigative journalist, editor of the publication Nashi Hroshi [Our Money] Yurii Nikolov and the Bihus.info group.
"Investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov, who exposed corruption in the Ministry of Defense, was targeted by several men on Sunday who knocked on his door, shouted that he would be sent to the front lines, and posted signs calling him a "traitor" and "provocateur." The incident against Nikolov was followed by a coordinated campaign to discredit Bihus.info, the Kyiv-based investigative journalism service, which has been exposing corruption in the authorities for years," the publication writes.
The Financial Times emphasizes that the methods used by the pro-government media to discredit Bihus.info, in particular, are reminiscent of the methods used by Yanukovych's government to fight independent journalists.
"The video (regarding the employees of Bihus.info, - ed.) was uploaded to a YouTube channel called Narodna Pravda [People’s Truth], which, according to Ukrainian fact-checkers, is headed by a woman whose image was generated by artificial intelligence. According to the appearance and tactics of Narodna Pravda is similar to the 2013 project called Ukrainska Kryvda [Ukrainian grievance], which was directed against well-known journalists and human rights defenders who criticized the then pro-russian president Viktor Yanukovych", the Financial Times writes.
The publication quotes the head of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, and the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. Yurchyshyn said that the failure to find the culprits would confirm suspicions that law enforcement agencies are acting on behalf of some government officials. Klitschko believes that "what is happening today destroys unity in the state, destroys democratic principles and damages the image of Ukraine."
The Financial Times emphasizes that "media freedom in Ukraine has been partially limited due to what authorities have called national security considerations after the russian invasion." And reminds of the warning of "Reporters Without Borders" about the threat to the survival of the Ukrainian mass media.
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