“Any provocations that split or undermine the unity of the Ukrainian people are unacceptable. Just like inciting hatred, discrimination or xenophobia. Ukrainians from every region without exception today must consolidate in order to effectively (each in his place) resist both external and internal challenges Therefore, Channel 4 thanks TV presenter Ostap Drozdov for his work and announces the termination of cooperation with him,” wrote Kovalev.
He noted that with “another iconic person of Channel 4” – journalist Denis Bigus – the partnership will continue and the project programs Bihus.info will be aired on the channel on regular days.
Drozdov wrote on Facebook that everything “categorically Ukrainian” is being blocked on the channel.
“As they say, “Western” Ukrainian rhetoric should not be on TV. Hiding behind the ideas of “stitching something with something,” in fact, a course has been taken to destroy any manifestations of sharply Ukrainian TV. And replace it with affectionately Little Russian And they will call it “Ukrainian”, as the Bolsheviks once painted us as friendly Leopold cats in balloons,” he said.
According to Drozdov, after the change of ownership, Channel 4 journalists were “given parameters” with which he did not agree. It is, as the presenter says, including such theses: “Forget about the “great radiance” (there can be no analytics about the corruption component), forget about the enrichment of the power elite, forget the surname [главы Офиса президента Андрея] Yermak, [президент Украины Владимир] Zelensky is a nationwide leader, so criticism is either innocently neutral or none, for the Russian language – assistance and loyalty, patriotic rhetoric is “hear Donbass.”
Drozdov is 42 years old, he was born in Lvov. He worked on the ZIK channel, and in 2019, after ZIK bought the people’s deputy from the “Opposition Platform – For Life” Taras Kozak, declaredthat the new management “killed the TV channel” in two weeks and quit.
In 2021, after the imposition of sanctions against the ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne channels, Drozdov (he was already working on Channel 4 at that time) called the audience of these media “rats” and single-celled ones, which is why people’s deputies from the Servant of the People Maxim Buzhansky and Yevgeny Kravchuk asked the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting check “4 channels”.
In May 2020 Drozdov used the epithet “single-celled” to Ukrainians who speak Russian. And earlier, in 2019, he called for the deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship of all residents of territories not controlled by Ukraine. Then a criminal case was opened against him, he wrote “Media Detector”.
Channel 4 has been broadcasting since 2015, it was previously known as RTI, but was rebranded in 2018. The channel broadcasts throughout Ukraine.
In February 2021, the former people’s deputy, leader of the political party “Public Movement” People’s Control “Dmitry Dobrodomov became the owner of 50% of the authorized capital of Channel 4. Another 50% belonged to a member of the political council of the party, Andrey Misik. Dobrodomov also served as director of the TV channel, notes “Media Detector”.
That Kovalev acquired Channel 4, became known on December 28. He explained his choice by the fact that Channel 4, in his opinion, is “the only one among private broadcasters in Ukraine, equidistant from all political and oligarchic groups.”
“I AM I bought it for myself, or rather, for my parents, and my parents gave me. We have a family business, registered to the parents. I myself am a lawyer, so I decided to make the following order of the transaction: my parents bought this asset and gave it to me,” the people’s deputy said in an interview that was released on January 10. He already announced personnel changes then.
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