Trial Set for Crimea TV Editor Charged with Supporting Russian Aggression

A trial is being prepared against the editor-in-chief of the occupation TV and radio company Crimea, who openly supported Russian aggression and justified the temporary occupation of the peninsula. The case against her has been submitted to the court.

According to the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, the media woman is charged with collaboration (Part 6 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and justification of Russian aggression through the media (Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). For these crimes, the defendant faces up to 12 years in prison with deprivation of the right to engage in media activities for up to 15 years and confiscation of property.

The investigation established that in October 2019, the defendant, a citizen of Ukraine, became the head of TRK Krym, which is part of the occupation Ministry of Internal Policy, Information and Communications of the so-called "Republic of Crimea". This media holding includes 16 pro-Russian media outlets.

The editor actively used social media to spread Kremlin propaganda, justified the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories and supported Russian aggression.

In September 2022, she also took part in a propaganda broadcast on TRK Krym, dedicated to the launch of Russian media broadcasts in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region.

On the air, she openly supported the aggressor and the occupation administration. The trial should determine the suspect's responsibility for crimes against the statehood of Ukraine.

Recently, a former journalist from Kherson was accused of collaborating with the Russian occupiers and propaganda. The case against him was sent to court. The prosecutor's office did not name the journalist, but before that, the Prosecutor General's website published information about the announcement of suspicion to Yevhen Bilyi for collaboration with the occupiers.

And an employee of a utility company in Kherson will be tried for distributing Russian newspapers, who in the summer of 2022 received the Naddnepryanska Pravda and Komsomolska Pravda newspapers from the occupation administration and distributed them among her employees.

Андрій Колісніченко