Money down the drain: Russia jammed the Ukrainian radio tower broadcasting to Crimea

Radio broadcasts to Crimea from a new 150-meter Ukrainian tower (not so long ago installed with fanfare on Chongar) are jammed with a Russian signal. This is evidenced by monitoring Crimean Human Rights Group, conducted in July 2018.

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The monitoring group checked the work of 4 Ukrainian FM radio stations, the launch of broadcasting to Crimea at the beginning of 2017 was reported by the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine.

In July 2017, monitors from the Crimean Human Rights Group checked the operation of these radio stations in the Kalanchak checkpoint area and in 13 settlements in the north of Crimea. The test was carried out using FM receivers in car radios, as well as using an audio player with a built-in FM receiver.

Of all the settlements, only in the area between Voinka and Kalinovka was it possible to hear the Ukrainian radio signal in good quality on the frequency 100,7 FM, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

Also in the villages of Vishnevka, Krepkoye, Krasnoarmeyskoye and Voinka, the Ukrainian radio signal was heard through a regular player. At the same time, the car radio did not receive this signal, but received the signal from the Russian radio “Sputnik in Crimea”.

In all other settlements, instead of Ukrainian radio, the Russian radio “Sputnik in Crimea” broadcasts on the frequency 100,7 FM.

On the frequency 101,4 FM, for which Radio Meydan received a license, Russian Radio Crimea broadcasts in eight of the 13 settlements. In other villages there is no broadcasting on this frequency.

On the frequency of radio “Crimea Realities” (105,9 FM) (a subsidiary project of the American “Radio Liberty”), the Crimean radio “Vesti FM” broadcasts in all studied settlements. And only in Armyansk and four villages of the Krasnoperekopsky district (Krasnoarmeyskoye, Vishnevka, Voinka, Krepkoye) on this frequency you can hear the simultaneous broadcasting of two stations - the American “Crimea Reality” and the Russian “Vesti FM”. At the same time, the signal quality of both stations is poor due to the overlap of radio station signals on the same frequency.

On the frequency received by the Ukrainian station “Kherson FM” (107,8 FM), the Russian radio “Vatan Sedasy” broadcasts in 11 settlements of northern Crimea in the Crimean Tatar language. Only in Dzhankoy and partly in the Krasnoperekopsk region can you also hear the signal from the Kherson FM radio on this frequency, but in very poor quality. In the villages of Razdolnoye and Steregushchy there is no broadcasting on the frequency 107,8 FM.

The CHRG monitoring group visited the border with Crimea in the area of ​​the Kalanchak checkpoint from the peninsula. There are no Ukrainian FM stations broadcasting in this part of Crimea. Russian radio stations operate on all frequencies studied.

In addition, on the frequency 101,4 FM in the village. In Novoalekseevka, Genichesk district, Kherson region, instead of the signal from Radio Meydan, the signal from the Russian radio “Crimea” is heard. From time to time, the Russian radio “Crimea” on the same frequency can be heard in the territory controlled by Ukraine in the area of ​​​​the Arabat Spit. Radio KhersonFM on frequency 107,8 FM can be heard in the Chongar checkpoint area on both sides of the demarcation line.

The propagation of radio waves can vary depending on weather conditions, so on different days in the same populated areas you can hear the broadcast of different stations if they broadcast on the same frequency or on neighboring frequencies. At the same time, different radio stations can also be heard on different radios in the same locality. However, the advantage usually has the radio station whose transmitter power is greater, or whose transmitting radio tower is located closer or in the direct radio visibility zone.

It is worth noting that just six months ago, a high-quality signal from Ukrainian radio stations could be heard throughout the entire northern Crimea.

“Based on the monitoring results, we can conclude that recently the occupation authorities of Crimea have been jamming the signal of Ukrainian broadcasters by turning on Russian radio stations on the same frequencies,” Ukrainian “researchers” lament.