Ukrainian public broadcaster files case against Russia at European Court of Human Rights

October 24 – The Ukrainian Public Broadcasting Company (UA:PBC) filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights regarding Russia’s violations of the European Convention on Human Rights through its missile attacks on broadcasting infrastructure. Article 10 of the Convention “guarantees the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.”

In its suit UA:PBC details instances when Russian attacks damaged the company’s infrastructure and interrupted broadcasting, including:

Missile and air strikes on TV towers in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Izium, Lysychansk, Korosten, Bilopillia, Antopil, Vinnytsia, and Orikhiv;
Military seizure of a TV tower in Melitopol;
Attempts to jam the company’s Amos satellite;
Cyber-attack on the company’s digital archives.

Mykola Chernotytskyy, UA:PBC Chairman of the Board, said: “We believe that this is not only a violation of the broadcaster’s right to disseminate information. It is the Russian government’s policy to block all sources of information that don’t align with Russian propaganda.”