The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reported Thursday the arrest of a worker of the Russia Today media who it accuses of spreading disinformation and alleged Kremlin propaganda to the countries of the European Union.
The operation was carried out in the Chernobyl region, where another person was detained on charges of collaborating with this Russia Today worker. Searches were also carried out and two Ukrainian citizens considered pro-Russian were arrested in Dnipro.
According to the SBU, in his publications and videos, the detainee justified the war launched by Russia eight months ago, as well as war crimes allegedly committed during the conflict against the civilian population and attacks on critical infrastructure.
He also allegedly spread disinformation from the front lines and called on the international community to limit its aid to Ukraine. For this purpose, he used his own YouTube and Telegram channels, reaching an audience of more than half a million people.
His accomplice, as the SBU described him, is a European citizen who was in charge of editing the videos, and who subsequently went to Chernobyl to perform «editorial tasks», collect materials and prepare «commissioned stories» on behalf of the Kremlin.
Both are charged with four offenses, including justifying the Russian-initiated war and glorifying its participants, the SBU details.
In addition, two Ukrainian citizens have been detained in the Dnipro region, one of them in the city of Pokrov and the other in the city of Novomoskovsk. Both are accused of being pro-Russian propagandists, as well as of advocating the invasion of Ukraine and of «discrediting» the government of Volodymyr Zelensky.
