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Moscow Journalist Union calls on Kiev to stop violating rights of Russian reporters

On Wednesday night, a Russian reporter was deported from Ukraine with a three-year entry ban

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities should stop violating the rights of Russian reporters, the Moscow Journalist Union’s secretarial said in a statement published on the organization’s website on Thursday.

"The Moscow Journalist Union’s secretariat, together with Moscow journalists, expresses utmost indignation over the actions taken by the Ukrainian Securtiy Service (SBU) officers, who deported Russia’s Channel One reporter Anna Kurbatova," the statement reads. "On behalf on numerous Moscow journalists, we call on the Ukrainian authorities to stop unlawful actions against Russian reporters," the secretariat added.

The Moscow Journalist Union’s secretarial pointed out that on July 26, the SBU had deported Russia’s VGTRK media group reporter Maria Knyazeva and denied her re-entry into the country citing her allegedly biased coverage of the situation in Ukraine, while on August 15, Rossiya 24 TV channel reporter Tamara Nersesyan had also been expelled from the country.

"The Ukrainian government, which seeks to join the European Union by hook or by crook and claims to share the EU values, actually violates all the possible principles of a democratic society," the statement adds. "At the same time, the OSCE Committee on Freedom of the Media has been unable to adopt a firm position concerning such steps," the Moscow Journalist Union’s secretarial added.

On Wednesday night, Kurbatova was deported from Ukraine with a three-year entry ban.

Russian TV broadcasters reported earlier that Kurbatova had been abducted in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Later, news came that she had actually been detained by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) which claimed that her reports were "infringing on the national interests" of Ukraine.

While working in Ukraine, Kurbatova was receiving threats over her coverage of events happening in the country. Before she disappeared, Anna was working on a report concerning the persecution of journalists in Ukraine, while a few days ago, Channel One aired her report covering the military parade which took place in Kiev on Ukraine’s Independence Day. The reporter particularly said that the parade was "a march of dependence," while the date itself marked "a sad holiday."

In her opinion, Kiev has returned "to the turbulent 90s," while Ukraine "is totally dependent on America and Europe".

Meanwhile, Channel One said that Kurbatova was expected to arrive in Moscow on Thursday night.