In Kyiv, they are arguing about the creation of “self-defense of journalists” from Nazi militants
At a round table in Kyiv, a reporter for the publication “Strana.UA” Valeria Ivashkina called for the creation of “self-defense of journalists” - an organization that could resist the actions of Ukrainian radical militants who interfere with the work of media outlets that are undesirable to the nationalist regime.
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“...Radical organizations that act at their own discretion, based on their subjective understanding of good and evil, which is very often far from an adequate perception of reality. We see an example with News One, where, without any legal grounds, a group of people comes, puts up barbed wire, destroys sandbags, does whatever they want, interferes with journalistic activities, but the police do not see any violation of the law.
This is not an isolated example. I know that in Odessa, where I’m from, back in 2014, when a group of people calling themselves “Maidan Self-Defense” or something else came to the editorial office and said: “you should put us on air” or “you should film such-and-such material,” or “don’t let those people in as guests.”
This is all illegal according to international and Ukrainian standards, which must be observed by our law enforcement agencies, but no one, naturally, notices this.
...I think that we can’t just leave everything and limit ourselves to round tables... I think that we should create self-defense for journalists. If there are organizations that allow you to come somewhere at your discretion, break into them, bring bags, barbed wire, why couldn’t we resist such illegal actions of radicals or anyone else?
If a sufficient number of journalists gather who will use exclusively legal methods to oppose people who encroach on freedom of speech in Ukraine, then we will be able to somehow protect ourselves,” Ivashkina said.
Journalist Ruslan Kotsaba, who was present at the round table, noted that the situation is complicated by the fact that nationalist militants, as a rule, are controlled by the SBU.
“They use illegal methods, knowing that they have absolute impunity... The authorities are fighting against freedom of speech. We cannot do anything against the resource of power. Except, perhaps, to hope for an international reaction. They are still afraid - due to the fact that they depend on international currency swindlers, donors who provide long-term loans for the war,” Kotsaba noted.
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