SEVASTOPOL, October 11. /TASS/. Crimea has managed to break through the information blockade at the international level, and Crimean journalists have started to participate in international events. It is important because people living on the peninsula can provide reliable information about what is happening in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS.

"I think, and I will repeat myself, that the information blockade is already broken. We have examples of Crimean journalists participating in international forums, off-site or personally. We will continue working on this," Zakharova said.

She noted that after Crimea had begun to form part of Russia, activists and regular citizens of the peninsula did not have a chance to talk on the international scene, while they are the first source of information about life on the peninsula and can "talk about their achievements, problems, everyday life."

"We know that the main goal of Crimean journalists in the area of international relations is to make their voices be heard. And with that goal, the foreign ministry is undertaking relevant work and organizing their participation, <…> while the West actively resists that. We organize and remain in contact with international organizations, public organizations [to discuss] the participation of Crimean journalists in a lively debate, when the issues are directly related to Crimea," the diplomat added.

Crimea’s information blockade

On March 11, 2014, Crimea’s legislature and the city council of Sevastopol adopted a declaration of independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol amid a political crisis and change of power in Ukraine. On March 16, Crimea and Sevastopol held referendums, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of the people of Sevastopol voted to be incorporated into Russia. In both cases the turnout was above 80%. Ukraine, the United States and the European Union refused to recognize the independence of Crimea, and its forming part of Russia.

Some countries have introduced an information blockade of the peninsula, which created issues connected with the region’s representation on the international scene. On September 11, head of the Millet Crimean Tatar TV channel Ervin Musayev took the floor at a meeting of the OSCE and introduced himself as a representative of Crimea, Russia, three countries - Ukraine, Canada and Austria - protested and the mic was turned off. In 2017, Andrei Trofimov, Head of the Crimean Branch of the Russian Union of Journalists, was stopped from delivering his address at the Ukrainian delegation’s request.