On 28th April 2022, a joint meeting of the Committees of the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine on Ukraine's Integration into the EU, on Foreign Policy
and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, and on Humanitarian and Information
Policy was held. During the meeting members of Parliament and
representatives of media and public organizations fighting disinformation
discussed Russia’s information threats and measures to combat Russian
propaganda.
The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU noted that
the current barbaric and bloody war waged by Russia in Ukraine is
supported by propaganda distributed not only in Ukraine and Russia, but
all over the world. “Unfortunately, we see that in some countries of the
world the propaganda of the aggressor state is successful. We know that
Russian propagandist outlets continue to operate in many countries.
Russian state-owned channels are not banned and operate via satellite. Now
we see a new trend. Former employees of Russian state-owned channels are
now not only employed the world's respected media outlets, but are also
rewarded, such as Marina Ovsyannikova,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said.
Olexander Merezhko, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and
Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, believes that Russian propaganda media
are complicit in crimes against humanity and genocide of Ukrainians. In
addition, the Chairman of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information
Policy, Mykyta Poturayev, is convinced that Russia should be isolated in
the same way as the Soviet Union was once.
The participants noted that Russian propaganda is an integral part of the
military machine that Russia uses as a psychological and information
weapon against Ukraine and against the entire democratic world. In order
to counter the disinformation threats from the aggressor state, the
Verkhovna Rada Committees worked out and approved proposals addressed both
to the authorities in Ukraine and to the parliaments of other countries,
as well as to international organizations.
The following measures were approved:
• to address the National Security and Defense Council,
the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting on the need to
immediately stop the activities of both central and regional media, which
are controlled by Russian agents of influence and promote Russian
narratives among the Ukrainian people;
• to address the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the
importance of funding educational programs on media literacy, media
hygiene and critical thinking in educational institutions supported by
non-governmental organizations and Ukrainian media. To raise the issue of
funding such programs through international financial assistance donors of
Ukraine;
• to address the Cabinet of Ministers to initiate, at
the governmental level, international negotiations on the possibility of
obtaining funding to record information crimes.
The Committees call on the Ministries of Foreign Affairs to forward their
decisions to the parliaments of the EU and NATO member states, the
European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of
Europe, NATO, the OSCE, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
In addition, the Committees should jointly develop a draft Resolution of
the Verkhovna Rada on counteracting misinformation, propaganda,
manipulation and information terrorism of the Russian Federation.
The Committees also approved appeals addressed to the national parliaments
of the EU and NATO member states, the European Parliament, the
Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe, NATO, the OSCE, and the
Inter-Parliamentary Union. They called on democracies to ignore the
Russian government's press tours in the occupied territories, which are
aimed at justifying Russia’s crimes against civilians in Ukraine by
fabricating facts, using fake evidence and fictitious witnesses.
The Committees called for tougher sanctions on Russian institutions
involved in disinformation, propaganda, and manipulation of the media, and
for sanctions to be imposed on those involved in development and
distribution of manipulative news, as well as on members of their
families.
They called for stopping the broadcasting of Russian TV channels via
satellite systems and promoting Ukrainian broadcasters instead.