GENEVA, March 25. /TASS/. The government of Switzerland decided on Friday against blocking on its territory the broadcast of a number of Russian television channels, which were barred earlier by the European Union, the Swiss government said in a statement on its official website.

According to the statement, the Swiss Federal Council ruled against the European Union’s decision to suspend the broadcasting of a number of Russian television channels, namely of Sputnik and RT channels.

The statement says that "The Federal Council decision of 25 March means that Switzerland remains in line with the measures imposed by the EU on 9 and 15 March in response" to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

"However, the Federal Council took the decision not to implement the EU measure of 1 March suspending the broadcasting of contents from certain Russian media outlets, namely Sputnik and Russia Today," the statement reads.

"Despite the fact that these outlets are used to spread targeted propaganda and disinformation by the Russian Federation, the Federal Council is of the opinion that it is more effective to counter untrue and harmful statements with facts instead of preventing them from being broadcast," the Swiss Federal Council added in its statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years."

The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.