In June 2021 the Crimean Human Rights Group carried out a new monitoring campaign of FM wave radio station broadcasting in the north of peninsula. Comparing to the previous monitoring campaign held in March the situation with the Ukrainian signal spread significantly worsened.
For instance, the “Zvezda” radio controlled by the RF Ministry of Defense which signal blocked completely the frequency of the NV Ukrainian radio, appeared on the air. Earlier, in March 2021, the signal of Ukrainian FM radio stations was recorded in 13 out of 19 settlements.
This June the Ukrainian radio broadcasting was accessible in 8 settlements of the same list. However, the number of frequencies at which the Ukrainian radio signal can be heard has also reduced.
Ukrainian FM radio stations can’t be still heard in the settlements of Solionoye Ozero, Yermakovo, Dzhankoy, Ovoshchnoye.
In the settlements of Novoaleksandrovka, Martynovka, Zavet Leninskiy, Lobanovo, Zelenaya Niva, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Ishun’, Ukrainian radio stations could be heard on some frequencies in March. In June, on some radio frequencies, simultaneous broadcasting of two radio stations on the same frequency can be heard in these settlements. As a result, the signal at these frequencies is currently not suitable for listening.
On other frequencies in these settlements, the signal of Russian FM stations is available in good quality.
In Vishnevka, Krasnoarmeyskoye, Pridorozhnoye, Zarechnoye, Voinka, Yermakovo, one can hear only one Ukrainian station, in Istochnoye – 2 radio stations, in Predmostnoye – 5 Ukrainian FM radio stations.
Near the CHONGAR checkpoint, in the occupied territory of the peninsula, one can listen to the programs of 8 Ukrainian FM radio stations, and near the CHAPLYNKA checkpoint – only 2 Ukrainian radio stations can be heard at the Crimean side.
In all the checked settlements from the monitoring list, Zvezda Radio, controlled by the RF Ministry of Defense, is now broadcasting at a frequency of 99.8 MHz, where earlier it was possible to catch the signal of the NV Ukrainian radio.
The broadcasting of Ukrainian FM from Chaplynka in the northern Crimea is jammed by the following Russian radio stations:
Frequency 95.3 of KULTURA Radio by KRYM radio
Frequency 96.4 of PERETS FM Radio by MORE radio
Frequency 102.3 of MEYDAN Radio by SPUTNIK radio
Frequency 103.5 of HAYAT Radio by MAYAK radio
Frequency 106.4 of PROMIN’ Radio by VATAN SEDASY radio.
The broadcasting of Ukrainian FM from Chongar in the northern Crimea is jammed by the following Russian radio stations:
Frequency 100.7 of UKRAYINS’KE Radio by SPUTNIK radio
Frequency 102.6 of PROMIN’ Radio by VESTI radio
Frequency 1033 of ARMIYUA FM Radio by KRYM radio
Frequency 104.1 of NV Radio by MORE radio
Frequency 105.9 of KRYM.REALII Radio by VESTI radio
Frequency 107.8 of KHERSON FM Radio by VATAN SEDASY radio.
We would remind that the CHRG has earlier informed that a new radio and TV broadcasting tower was mounted close to CHAPLYNKA Checkpoint in the occupied territory of Crimea.
The CHRG monitors used car radios to check which Ukrainian FM radio stations could be listened to in 19 settlements of northern Crimea: the cities of Armyansk, Krasnoperekopsk, Dzhankoy as well as in settlements located along the main roads – Ishun’, Zelenaya Niva, Vishnevka, Krasnoarmeyskoye, Istochnoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Martynovka, Solionoye Ozero, Zavet-Leninskiy, Yermakovo, Pridorozhnoye, Predmostnoye, Zarechnoye, Ovoshchnoye, Lobanovo, Voinka.
The Crimean Human Rights Group regularly holds such monitoring campaigns in the territory of northern Crimea. Their results provide a consistent violation of the right of the Crimea residents to access to information, namely the independent Ukrainian media. Jamming the Ukrainian websites and radio stations was also condemned by the UN GA resolution adopted on December 16 2020, “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.”
The occupation authorities must immediately stop blocking the Ukrainian radio stations in Crimea and restart their broadcasting. Ukraine must be more active in seeking for international legal instruments to hold Russia liable for these actions.
