For Ukraine watchers, this is an intriguing development: President Zelensky has imposed sanctions on MP Taras Kozak, a proxy of Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk, and his TV channels, NewsOne, Zik, 112, which are notorious pushers of Russian disinformation. president.gov.ua/documents/4320…
The move was signed by Zelensky after approval from National Security and Defense Council. Kozak faces a slew of restrictions and bans now, including asset freezes. His TV channels—which really are controlled by Medvedchuk, who is Putin's lackey in Kyiv—are already off the air.
Many Ukrainian progressives, political analysts, and even journalists have long supported measures like those imposed today against what are essentially Kremlin disinfo networks in Ukraine. Poroshenko blocked Russian social networks and other sites.
NewsOne, Zik, and 112 were also places where Ukraine's far-right Azov got airtime. The Ukrainian operatives working with Rudy Giuliani to help Trump and who were sanctioned by the US were also frequent guests. Andriy Derkach's press conferences were aired by all three.
Here's a collage courtesy of @ColborneMichael showing Ukrainian neo-nazis and violent far-right figures, including those from Azov, promoting their appearances on the channels.
https://twitter.com/ColborneMichael/status/1356720648081596427
Since Kozak and Medvedchuk took over the channels, there has been little if anything aired on them that resembles journalism. And yet, the move is a controversial one, as @schfm explains here:
https://twitter.com/schfm/status/1356710726149300230
The timing's interesting. One reason I think Zelensky's doing this now is because he has a window of opportunity to crack down on actors who're working against him and who also happen to be tied to those sanctioned by the US. Hard to see Washington objecting strongly to the move.
The other, pointed out below, is Putin has his hands full at the moment.
https://twitter.com/Mortis_Banned/status/1356715929527287809
Here’s President Zelensky’s English-language justification (likely meant to assuage any freedom of expression/press concerns in the West) for the sanctions imposed on pro-Russian MP Kozak and his propaganda TV channels run by Medvedchuk.
https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1356884223777464320
Learning more about this now. Zelensky and the Natl Security and Defense Council were able to sanction Kozak and his channels on the basis of his alleged “funding of terrorism.” He’s suspected of selling coal from the Russia-controlled areas of Donbas. pravda.com.ua/news/2021/02/3…
Kozak himself has discussed the suspicion and said he was notified of this being the reason for sanctions against him. unian.info/society/107080…
The response: pro-Russian opposition in parliament initiated impeachment proceedings aimed at taking down Zelensky. Ukraine didn’t have such a procedure until recently (ironically, passed during Trump’s first impeachment). Very unlikely to be supported. en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/7…
And here’s the co-leader of the Opposition Platform-For Life party Vadim Rabinovich calling Zelensky a “fascist devil” from the parliament lectern beside co-leader Viktor Medvedchuk while MPs from Zelensky’s and other parties laugh.
https://twitter.com/tweetsNV/status/1356889585746345984
The US supports Zelensky’s sanctions “to counter Russia’s malign influence, in line with Ukrainian law, in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“We must all work together to prevent disinformation from being deployed as a weapon...”
—@USEmbassyKyiv
“We must all work together to prevent disinformation from being deployed as a weapon...”
—@USEmbassyKyiv
@USEmbassyKyiv Yep. And the emphasis on the rule of law in the Embassy statement seems to be the US being careful here and sort of implying that this move is fine but don't stretch it.
https://twitter.com/schfm/status/1356964852854640642
The EU, meanwhile, doesn't seem to side with the US on this one:
https://twitter.com/RikardJozwiak/status/1356967706285793280
All very good points.
https://twitter.com/schfm/status/1356968053360189440
Zelensky and the G7 ambassadors group met this evening in Kyiv to discuss his sanctions on pro-Russian entities. The EU and US made contrasting statements before the meeting, with the former worried about freedom of press/expression, latter supporting the move.
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1357028603897253891
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