Correspondent of the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Roman Tsimbalyuk was summoned to the prosecutor's office of the Central Administrative District of Moscow to give an explanation.
The prosecutor’s office believes that Tsymbalyuk’s materials posted on his YouTube channel “contain signs of inciting hostility and hatred towards members of the social groups “Russians” and “representatives of the authorities in Russia.”
It is indicated that these are materials: “The bottom has been broken again: on the air of “Russia-1” they called for hanging Ukrainians from street lamps”, “What is good in Kiev is bad in Moscow: Tsymbalyuk explained on “Dozhd” the meaning of the parade in Ukraine”, “Zakharova hates the defenders of Ukraine: your songs are across my throat.”
The prosecutor's office is considering the issue of initiating a criminal case against the Ukrainian under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. It provides for the following types of administrative punishment: administrative fine, compulsory labor, administrative arrest.
“This bastard should be in jail. He must bear responsibility for the insults he inflicted on the Russian people, Russia, as well as the President of the Russian Federation. As they say, one must be strictly responsible for the market. And he caused a lot of damage. Because of people like him, two peoples quarreled among themselves. He is to blame for the war going on in Donbass.
He successfully pursued a policy of war and called for confrontation. I would like him to answer in accordance not with Ukrainian, but with Russian laws. And if he is expelled and sneezed, this is not a punishment. He is a criminal, an accomplice of the murderers who rule Ukraine today. Of course, there is no need to hang it, but it should be soldered for a good period of time. It’s best not to think about how much damage they can cause with their chatty, boneless tongue,” ex-People’s Deputy of Ukraine Alexey Zhuravko told PolitNavigator.
The head of the Ukraine department of the Institute of CIS Countries, Ivan Skorikov, draws attention to the fact that Tsymbalyuk was only called for clarification on the administrative offense in question.
“Apparently, those who contacted the authorities expect that the Ukrainian journalist will moderate his ardor a little in his Russophobic blog. In fact, he will only hype this story, imposing a minor administrative fine - a terrible repression of the bloody regime, and will demand large budgets from the Kyiv authorities for the selfless fight behind enemy lines from the Kremlin buffets.
In my opinion, the best punishment for the Tsymbalyuks would be zero tolerance towards them - refusal of accreditation to any press conferences, non-handshake of Russian colleagues, boycott by speakers, and close attention of the authorities. However, instead, for 7 years after the coup, Russophobe Tsymbalyuk has been the voice of Ukraine at presidential press conferences, a guest of political talk shows on federal channels, and a participant in many expert round tables. If all this time they don’t see him as a dangerous spy, it means that he is considered a bogeyman for the internal viewer who has not yet served his term,” Skorikov said.
Economist Alexander Dudchak believes that attempts to stop the rudeness of Ukrainian journalists and public figures on Russian TV cannot be called strangulation of freedom of speech.
“Very often, Ukrainian journalists allow themselves too much. You can disagree with the policies of a state that is foreign to you, but frankly boorish, illegal expressions should be kept to yourself. In the end, there is the legislation of the country where you are located. Some regulars of popular talk shows, who received decent fees, have already paid for their restless and poisonous tongue. But such practice does not become a lesson for others.
At the same time, nothing like this can even be imagined on Ukrainian broadcasts. When was the last time you could see a Russian representative expressing an opinion different from the opinion of official Kyiv? However, it is not clear why they are still broadcasting all sorts of Koreybas and Gordeevs? For scandals for the sake of ratings? Or to incite hatred towards Poles and Ukrainians? But, in a specific case, let everything be according to the law,” Dudchak told PolitNavigator.
Journalist Yulia Vityazeva draws attention to the fact that the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is located at the address where Tsymbalyuk is registered in Kyiv.
And her colleague, political emigrant Alexander Chalenko, believes that Tsymbalyuk, like other Ukrainian participants in talk shows on Russian television, is “one of the main and key figures of Russian propaganda.”
“I am sure that when Little Russia and Novorossiya are reunited with the Russian Federation, I have no doubt that all of them, and Roman Tsymbalyuk in particular, will be nominated for the highest Russian state awards for their significant and invaluable contribution to the restoration of our Motherland. For almost eight years, starting in 2014, it has been called upon to personify the freedom of speech and freedom of opinion that exists in the Russian Federation, unlike Ukraine.
Any Russian official can tell his Ukrainian colleague: look, Ukrainian journalist Tsymbalyuk can ask Putin any questions, can go to him at press conferences, can publish any negative things about the Russian Federation while sitting in Moscow, and he won’t get punished for it. But a Russian journalist cannot afford this in Kyiv. They will either kick him out or the Nazis will kill him,” Chalenko said.
According to his information, Tsymbalyuk lives very comfortably “in the capital of Mordor.”
“He receives 5 thousand dollars from Kolomoisky, he has a wife, a Russian citizen, two children, Russian citizens, no one touches him, and the fame of a fighter against the Putin regime in his historical homeland is expanding and expanding. And this call to the prosecutor’s office is a plus for him in his career as a Ukrainian journalist. Now he will be made a victim of the Russian government. Do we need it? No. Therefore, Roma must be released. He could be deported to Ukraine, which would be a tragedy for him, because he’s been living awesome in Moscow for almost 15 years,” Chalenko said.
In November, the Russian public was outraged by Tsymbalyuk’s statement that Russians now “should not count on mercy, since Putin has finally awakened the Ukrainian beast.”