State council readies to permanently shut down TV channels owned by pro-Russian figures
Photo: EPA

The National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting is going to revoke the licenses of seven TV channels owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, Yevhen Murayev and Nestor Shufrych. This decision was supposed to be considered at a meeting of the National Council on Thursday, May 25, but was postponed to the next time due to the absence of licensees' representatives.

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The channels in question are Nash 365 LLC (NASH TV channel), Nasha Praha LLC (Maxi TV/NASH TV channel), News 24 Hours LLC (NewsOne TV channel), TRK 112 TV LLC (112 TV channel), Telespace LLC (UkrLive TV channel) and Time Media LLC (First Independent TV channel).

All of them are sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council.

"We will take actions that will ensure the presence of these companies at the meeting or consideration without their presence. We will invite these companies by all possible means. I am sure that these companies hear us," warned Olga Herasymiuk, head of the National Council.

At the end of April, the Russian media outlet Verstka released an investigation into the reasons that prompted Vladimir Putin to launch a full-scale war against Ukraine. It called the closure of Viktor Medvedchuk's pro-Russian TV channels the "last straw" in the decision to prepare for war.

Viktor MedvedchukYevhen MurayevNestor ShufrychtelevisionNational Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting