The Crimean Human Rights Group held the next monitoring of the FM radio station broadcasting in the north of peninsula in March 2020.
The monitoring showed that Ukrainian radio station broadcasting through towers located in Chongar and Chaplynka is completely blocked with the Russian FM stations in 10 settlements of Northern Crimea. In other 9 settlements the signal of Ukrainian stations is partly blocked.
Since the end of previous year, the situation with blocking the broadcasting in some settlements has become worse.
For instance, in December 2019 the CHRG monitors recorded broadcasting of 4 Ukrainian FM radio stations in Armiansk. The monitoring held in March 2020 demonstrated the total absence of the Ukrainian FM broadcasting in the town.
Moreover, if last December KULTURA Radio was heard in 5 settlements, now it is heard only in one.
Only one Ukrainian radio station can be heard in Yermakovo, Vishnevka, Novoaleksandrovka, Pridorozhnoye, and Zelenaya Niva.
Two radio stations can be heard in Krasnoarmeyskoye, and Istochnoye, 4 in Voinka, and 6 in Predmostnoye.
KULTURA and PROMIN’ radios can be heard in one settlement of the entire list, NV – in three, UKRAINSKOYE RADIO and ARMIYA FM in four, and KRYM.REALII in six of 19 checked.
Six Ukrainian FM radio stations can be heard on the occupied territory of the peninsula at CHONGAR checkpoint, and four Ukrainian radio stations can be heard at the Crimean side of CHAPLYNKA checkpoint.
In 10 settlements (Martynovka, Zavet Leninskiy, Solionoye Ozero, Zarechnoye, Dzhankoy, Ovoschnoye, Krasnoperekopsk, Lobanovo, Armiansk, Ishun’) Russian FM stations broadcast on the Ukrainian radio frequencies.
Broadcasting of the Ukrainian FMs via the Broadcasting Tower located in Chaplynka in the Northern Crimea is jammed by such Russian stations:
KRYM – 95.3 frequency of KULTURA Radio
MORE – 96.4 frequency of PERETS FM
SPUTNIK – 102.3 frequency of MEYDAN
MAYAK – 103.5 frequency of KHAYAT
VATAN SEDASY – 106.4 frequency of PROMIN’
Broadcasting of the Ukrainian FMs via the Broadcasting Tower located in Chongar in the Northern Crimea is jammed by such Russian stations:
SPUTNIK – 100.7 frequency of UKRAINSKOYE RADIO
VESTI – 102.6 frequency of PROMIN’
KRYM – 103 frequency of ARMIA FM
MORE – 104.1 frequency of RADIO NV
VESTI – 105.9 frequency of KRYM.REALII
VATAN SEDASY – 107.8 frequency of KHERSON FM
The CHRG monitors checked, with car radios, what Ukrainian FM radio stations may be heard in 19 settlements of the northern Crimea: towns of Armiansk, Krasnoperekopsk, and Dzhankoy, and settlements located along the main roads – Ishun’, Zelenaya Niva, Vishnevka, Krasnoarmeyskoye, Istochnoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Martynovka, Solionoye Ozero, Zavet Leninskiy, Yermakovo, Pridorozhnoye, Predmostnoye, Zarechnoye, Ovoschnoye, Lobanovo, and Voinka.
The Crimean Human Rights Group holds regularly missions for monitoring the broadcasting in northern Crimea. The Russian authorities have seized unlawfully the Ukrainian radio frequencies in the peninsula and have been blocking the Ukrainian FM broadcasting.
Thus, the Crimea occupying authorities have deprived the Ukrainian nationals of access to the information of independent Ukrainian radio stations. Doing this, the RF authorities neglect completely the fact that jamming radio signals is forbidden by the International Telecommunication Convention of 1947 and the UN General Assembly in 1950.
The actions of the Russian authorities in Crimea lead to abolishing the pluralism of opinions and replacing in fact the independent media with the sources of state Russian propaganda. With these discriminatory practices, it becomes in principle impossible for the Crimeans to receive information about Ukraine and human rights violations that are common in Crimea. Kremlin-controlled Russian media are hiding most of these facts from residents of the peninsula.
Information isolation of the occupied peninsula is intensifying, that constitutes a severe violation of free speech standards as well as provides the occupying power additional opportunities to disrespect further the human rights and freedoms in Crimea. The world community must increase and increase the pressure on the Russian Federation authorities:
- to make them stop immediately the censorship, unjustified blocking and other forms of freedom restrictions of independent media on the territory of Crimea;
- to investigate in depth the facts of unlawful blocking the media and seizure of radio frequencies in Crimea, and to bring the guilty to justice.
