More than 60 world leaders will join hundreds of business executives and campaigners at the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the five-day annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, starting Monday. On the agenda at this year’s meeting are some of the biggest global challenges including the impact of disinformation worldwide. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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Month: January 2024
Belarus Sends Children From Occupied Parts of Ukraine for Training With Belarusian Army
TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus state television reported Wednesday that authorities sent a recently arrived group of Ukrainian children from occupied Ukraine to train with the Belarusian military to learn how to evacuate in the event of a fire.
Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition allege that Russian ally Belarus is engaging in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus on a mass scale, which critics say is a campaign to indoctrinate the children as pro-Russian.
Wednesday’s report referred to 35 children from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Antratsyt in eastern Ukraine that Belarusian authorities said were sent to the eastern Belarusian city of Mogilev.
The Belarus1 state television channel said the children are being housed in a sanatorium and are being cared for by employees from the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The military is “teaching the children how to behave in extreme situations,” the state television channel said.
Children wear Russian flag
More than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6 to 17 have been brought to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian troops, a recent Yale University study found. The Belarusian opposition has called on the International Criminal Court to bring Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and officials in his government to justice for their involvement in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus.
State television footage released Wednesday showed the Ukrainian children wearing the Russian flag sewn onto their sleeves. The state television program said the Belarusian military is conducting “emergency survival training” for the children.
During the report, screams were heard in a smoke-filled room while the program showed the children learning to leave during a fire while holding onto the wall.
“This is not just dry theory, but our classes are conducted in a playful format and are aimed at children,” said Evgeniy Sokolov, inspector of the Mogilev military training center for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
‘Children are being indoctrinated,’ says activist
Ukrainian authorities said they are investigating the deportation of the children as possible genocide. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine has said Belarus is also being investigated over the alleged forced deportation of more than 19,000 children from occupied Ukrainian territories.
Pavel Latushka, the former Belarusian culture minister turned opposition activist who presented the ICC with evidence of Lukashenko’s alleged involvement in the illegal deportation of children, said that “Belarusian authorities are not hiding the fact that children are being indoctrinated.”
Ukrainian children are being “subjected to re-education and indoctrination” to make them pro-Russian, Latushka told The Associated Press. According to Latushka, there are instances of Ukrainian children being taken to Belarus and then to Russia where they were put up for adoption.
In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of war crimes over the illegal deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has rejected the accusations.
Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, when Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to use Belarus to invade Ukraine. Russia has also stationed some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
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Russia-North Korea Military Cooperation Under UN Spotlight
United Nations — Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea to further its war in Ukraine is drawing international condemnation, including at the U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member.
U.N. Security Council members Britain, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, and the United States, plus Ukraine, on Wednesday condemned three waves of deadly airstrikes by Russia on December 30, January 2 and 6.
“These heinous attacks were conducted, in part, using ballistic missiles and ballistic missile launchers procured from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [DPRK],” the group said in a statement.
Last week, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the attacks were a “significant and concerning escalation.”
Citing newly declassified intelligence, Kirby said Russian forces launched at least one of the North Korean-supplied missiles on December 30, which landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied the weapons allegations.
At a Security Council meeting about the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday, Russia’s envoy cited an unnamed Ukrainian air force official as saying Kyiv had no evidence the Kremlin is using North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
“The U.S. seems to be spreading information that is wrong, without going to the trouble of checking this beforehand,” Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said of Kirby.
Washington’s alternate representative for Special Political Affairs noted that the United Nation’s confirmed death toll in the nearly two-year-old war has reached 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, including more than 560 children.
“This number continues to grow as Russia’s air attacks have intensified,” Ambassador Robert Wood said, adding that it is “abhorrent” that a permanent council member is “flagrantly violating” council resolutions to attack another U.N. member state.
Several council resolutions prohibit North Korea from developing a ballistic missile program, as well as banning it from exporting arms or related material to other states.
“By exporting missiles to Russia, the DPRK used Ukraine as a test site of its nuclear-capable missiles, in wanton disregard of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and safety of the Ukrainian people,” South Korean Ambassador Hwang Joonkook said.
He said some weapons experts assess that the missiles used in Ukraine are KN-23, which North Korea claims can deliver nuclear warheads. He told the council that one such missile flew 460 kilometers – the same distance as between the North Korean city of Wonsan, a typical launch site, and South Korea’s largest port city, Busan.
“From the ROK [Republic of Korea] standpoint, it amounts to a simulated attack,” Hwang said. “And as these launches provide valuable technical and military insights to the DPRK, it can be further encouraged to export ballistic missiles to other countries and rake in new revenue to further finance its illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
He urged the council to respond.
Japan’s envoy said not only did North Korea and Russia’s actions violate council resolutions, but they also risk destabilizing the region.
“It is a totally outrageous situation that the international community is demanding the observance of Security Council resolutions by a permanent member of the Security Council,” said Ambassador Yamazaki Kazuyuki.
Ukraine’s envoy said an investigation is underway to verify the origins of the remnants of a missile that fell in the Kharkiv region on January 6.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with 48 other foreign ministers and the EU High Representative, condemned the DPRK’s export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s recent use of these missiles against Ukraine.
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Malawi’s Maize Import Ban Forces WFP to Mill Grain From Tanzania
Blantyre, Malawi — Despite ongoing food shortages, the government of Malawi last month banned the import of unmilled maize from Kenya and Tanzania, citing concerns about the spread of maize lethal necrosis disease, or MLN. To help keep Malawians fed, the World Food Program has started milling 30,000 metric tons of relief maize. Authorities say the first consignment of the milled grain is expected next week.
Ironically, the maize the WFP purchased for milling is from Tanzania. The grain was held up last week, awaiting the arrival of experts to test it for MLN.
However, the WFP country director in Malawi, Paul Turnbul, told local media that in the interests of time, it was agreed that no tests would be done and instead, the WFP would just mill the maize and import flour to Malawi
Charles Kalemba, the commissioner for Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told the state broadcaster Tuesday importing flour is safe.
“We are getting maize flour from Tanzania because the agriculture ministry did not say we cannot get maize, but what we call full grain maize, which can be planted, [that’s] where the problem is,” he said. “But getting food in the form of maize flour, that’s okay.”
In December, Malawi’s government banned the import of unmilled maize grain from Kenya and Tanzania because of concerns that the spread of MLN could wipe out the country’s staple crop.
The ministry of agriculture said the disease has no treatment and can cause up to 100% yield loss.
Ronald Chilumpha, an expert in crop protection in Malawi, told VOA he did not expect Malawi to ban maize grain from Tanzania.
“Maize necrosis has been there in East Africa since 2012,” he said. “Malawi has been on alert for potential presence of the disease in the country. I do believe that these are scientific issues that can be discussed from a scientific point of view and come to a consensus.”
Authorities in Malawi estimated that 4.4 million people, about a quarter of Malawi’s population, will face food shortages over the next three months.
The food shortages are largely because of the impact of Cyclone Freddy, which washed away thousands of hectares of crops nearly a year ago.
Government statistics show that maize stocks in the national strategic reserves have dropped to 68,000 metric tons, 100,000 less than required to adequately address hunger in the Southern African nation.
WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa Menghestab Haile met with Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera Tuesday. He told reporters that several other African countries are also facing a hunger situation.
“The problem of food insecurity is not only in Malawi,” he said. “The whole region is looking at a crisis; we don’t know what El Nino will do. So, what we as WFP do is supporting the government in every way possible to make sure that we have necessary resources mobilized and distribute to people who deserve those resources.”
In the meantime, Malawi’s government has announced that it will import unmilled maize grain from South Africa.
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Dinghy Carrying Migrants Hits Rocks in Greece, Killing 2 in High Winds
ATHENS, GREECE — Two migrants were killed and 30 were rescued in Greece Wednesday after a dinghy crashed into rocks in high winds on the island of Lesbos, local authorities said.
The incident occurred near the resort town of Thermi on the east of the island, facing the nearby coast of Turkey.
Authorities said many of those rescued were found in a remote area on land near the accident site, apparently trying to make their own way to the nearest town. A search was also launched at sea, but it remained unclear whether others were missing.
Strong winds disrupted ferry traffic in many parts of Greece Wednesday.
Lesbos remains a transit point for illegal migration into the European Union despite rigorous patrolling by the Greek coast guard and the EU border protection agency Frontex.
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As Europe Weathers Cold Snap, Fears of Russia Power Cutoff Fade
Somali Officials: UN Helicopter Landed in al-Shabab Territory
Demonstrations in Gabon as Regional Blocs Bloc Maintain Sanctions Against Junta
Yaounde — Opposition and civil society groups are rallying in support of Gabon’s coup leader, after a bloc of Central African states refused to lift the sanctions on Gabon they imposed after the military ousted President Ali Ben Bongo at the end of August.
There were demonstrations this week in the Gabonese cities of Libreville, Oyem and Franceville, as civil society groups call for an end to sanctions, including Gabon’s suspension from the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, and Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS.
Gabon was suspended from the economic blocs on September 1, two days after General Brice Oligui Nguema ousted President Bongo in a bloodless coup.
In a New Year’s message, Oligui said he rescued Gabon from the iron fisted rule of Bongo, restored political stability and is improving delivery of water, electricity and health care. He said most of Gabon’s debts have been settled within his four months of rule.
Opposition parties say the junta leader has also liberated scores of political prisoners, invited exiled opposition leaders and critics back to the country and is fighting against corruption that characterized the Ali Bongo regime.
They say he should be given time to organize elections, and say the international sanctions should be lifted, immediately.
Jean Delors Bitogue Bi Ntougou is a political scientist and researcher at the Libreville-headquartered Omar Bongo University.
He says the sanctions deprive Gabon of expressing opinions on topical local, regional and international issues and render the central African states’ voice inaudible when countries meet during summits and conferences to discuss peace, security, the well-being of civilians and international cooperation. He says Gabon, like any other nation, wants to take part in discussions that shape the future of the world.
The military junta recently sent delegations to the United Nations, CEMAC and ECCAS member states to press for the lifting of the sanctions. Oligui said the coup was essential, because it prevented bloodshed from Gabon’s opposition, which said Bongo stole their victory in Gabon’s August 26 election.
In remarks to protesters, Oligui said he was surprised the diplomatic outreach didn’t work.
Nestor Obiang Nzoghe, an expert in governance and development policy and an adviser to the ousted president’s Gabonese Democratic Party, says if Gabon’s military respects its promise to hand power to civilian rule, sanctions imposed by the international community will be lifted.
Nzoghe says central Africa’s leaders who have clung to power for decades are reluctant to lift sanctions on Gabon for fear of setting a precedent for military takeovers.
He says Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled for about 45 years, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 41 years, and Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has been president for about 40 years, may think that lifting sanctions and openly accepting General Oligui as Gabon’s president can act as an encouragement for militaries in their countries to also seize power.
In November, Gabon’s military government announced a program to organize free, transparent and credible elections to restore civilian rule by August 2025. The military leaders say before such elections, the sovereign people of Gabon will meet in a national dialogue in April 2024 to, among other things, adopt the transition plan.
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Why South Africa Has Taken Israel to the World Court
Johannesburg, South Africa — The U.N.’s International Court of Justice will hold hearings this week to decide whether an interim measure needs to be brought against Israel to try and halt the war in Gaza. There is a history behind the South African government’s longstanding solidarity with the Palestinian people.
South Africa has gone to the ICJ or International Court of Justice in The Hague, charging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. On Thursday and Friday the court will hear arguments from both sides and will then decide whether to issue an interim order that Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza.
“There are ongoing reports of crimes against humanity and war crimes being committed as well as reports that acts meeting the threshold of genocide or related crimes as defined in the 1948 ‘Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide’ have been and may still be committed in the context of the ongoing massacres in Gaza,” said Clayson Monyela, spokesman for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation
South Africa and Israel are both signatories to the convention. Legal experts say the full case to prove Israel is guilty of genocide could take years, but the hearings this week are an urgent measure to seek a quick order against Israel in the meantime.
If South Africa wins at what is often dubbed “the World Court,” it will be an international embarrassment for Israel, lawyers told VOA this week.
However, while decisions by the court are binding, they are not always followed. Russia for example has still not obeyed a 2022 ICJ order that it halt its invasion of Ukraine.
“Enforcement is typically the Achilles heel of international justice at the ICJ,” said Mia Swart, a visiting international law professor at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand. “It’s probably highly likely that Israel will not, you know, immediately desist from all military action should the court order this and this will then have to go to the Security Council.”
As a permanent member of the top U.N. body the U.S. has veto powers and is a firm ally of Israel. Washington, like the Israeli government, has called South Africa’s lawsuit “meritless.”
South Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause is longstanding, said Gerhard Kemp, a South African law professor at the University of the West of England, Bristol.
“There’s also an historic reason for this, the African National Congress, the governing party of South Africa has a very longstanding relationship with the people of Gaza, Palestine, with the Palestinian liberation movements,” Kemp said. “So therefore, there’s also historical significance in that South Africa is taking the lead on this by bringing Israel to the ICJ.”
The African National Congress, or ANC, was itself once a banned liberation movement that led an armed struggle against the racist white apartheid regime in South Africa, and says it sees echoes of that in the plight of the Palestinians.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was a close friend of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and famously said South Africa’s freedom would not be complete until the Palestinians were also free.
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Taliban Minister Boasts Afghan Anti-Polio Gains While Addressing Global Health Huddle
Islamabad — A senior representative of Afghanistan’s Taliban government told a Pakistan-hosted international health conference Wednesday that his country had recorded an increase in mosquito-borne malaria and dengue fever cases, but infections caused by highly contagious poliovirus declined significantly.
Only 12 children around the world were paralyzed by wild poliovirus in 2023, all of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan — with six reported in each. The two countries, sharing a nearly 2,600-kilometer border, have not detected a polio infection this year.
“Polio is still a great challenge for both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Qalandar Ebad, the Taliban health minister, said in his English-language speech at the first global health security summit in Islamabad.
Delegates from 70 countries worldwide, including those from the United States and the United Nations, are attending the summit in the Pakistani capital.
“We are trying our best to eradicate the polio virus from the country and fortunately we have good accomplishments in this area,” Ebad said.
The World Health Organization says the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan has improved in quality and outreach since the Taliban regained control of the war-ravaged country in August 2021, leading to the cessation of years of nationwide hostilities.
The Taliban minister noted that there was a “slight increase in HIV/AIDS cases” in the impoverished country, but he did not elaborate.
Ebad blamed climate change for some health emergencies facing his South Asian nation of more than 40 million people. He urged the need to assist Afghanistan and other developing countries in improving their national healthcare systems to enable them to utilize locally available expertise to combat infectious diseases.
“We are witnessing that the funding in Afghanistan is decreasing, but still, in our country, instead of national capacity [building], many international [workers] with higher salaries are recruited, though the national [workers] can perform the same tasks as internationals do,” the Taliban minister asserted.
No foreign country has recognized the Taliban, citing their bans on Afghan women’s access to education and work.
Afghanistan lost billions of dollars in foreign aid after the Taliban takeover as Western countries and international donors suspended their financial support for the country, where the health sector was primarily dependent on the funding.
In his address to Wednesday’s opening session of the summit, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar urged collective efforts to fight global infectious diseases like COVID-19 and climate change-induced emergencies.
Kakar said that “no state in the world, no matter how powerful it is, can meet such challenges” alone.
While addressing the gathering, Donald Blome, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, backed calls for a collaborative international approach to global health security.
“Coordination with partners is the most effective way to address regional and global health threats,” Blome said. He added that halting infectious disease outbreaks at their point of origin is one of the best and most economical ways to save lives. “Health is the cornerstone to the future of any thriving nation, and the United States will be a strong partner to build this future.”
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Why India Welcomes Sheikh Hasina’s Return to Power in Bangladesh
New Delhi — For India, the return of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party to the helm in Bangladesh for a fourth consecutive term is a welcome development, according to analysts.
While the United States and Britain have said the recent elections that extended Hasina’s rule in the South Asian country were not credible, free or fair, New Delhi considers her a close ally in a neighborhood where its military confronts both Pakistan and China along hostile, disputed borders.
That is why a friendly government in Bangladesh, with which India shares a long land border, is crucial to India’s security, according to Harsh Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
“India faced a lot of turbulence in Dhaka-Delhi ties before Hasina came to power, but since taking office in 2009, she has been a steadfast ally,” said Pant. “Given the challenging neighborhood that India lives in where it faces a lot of headwinds like China’s increasing presence, it is natural for India to want her to continue in power.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to congratulate Sheikh Hasina after she secured a fourth consecutive term.
“We are committed to further strengthen our enduring and people-centric partnership with Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. For her part, Hasina called India “a great friend” at a news conference held after her victory.
For India, the topmost priority is its strategic interests, said analysts, who point out that Hasina has adroitly balanced ties with both India and China. Beijing has significantly expanded its footprint in small South Asian countries with its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Dhaka joined Beijing’s BRI in 2016. China is building infrastructure that includes bridges, power plants and rail projects in Bangladesh. China is also Bangladesh’s key supplier of military hardware.
“Some projects that are dual use in nature have raised questions in New Delhi. Beijing is building a submarine base in Bangladesh and has supplied two submarines to Dhaka,” according to Srikanth Kondapalli, dean at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. “Any military cooperation between them will be a matter of concern.”
However, he pointed out that Bangladesh “describes its partnership with China as a developmental partnership and has been generally mindful of Indian sensitivities.”
The Bay of Bengal where the submarine base is taking shape is a key waterway in the Indian Ocean, where India, along with the United States and other countries, are working together to deter China.
Dhaka has allayed New Delhi’s concerns, saying its ties with China are friendly but primarily focused on economic linkages.
“We are very prudent in receiving any aid or funds. So people should not be afraid that Bangladesh would succumb to the Chinese,” Bangladesh’s foreign minister, Abdul Momen, said in an interview to India Today television after the polls.
Analysts said that Hasina’s continuation in Bangladesh is a relief for New Delhi, which recently saw a pro-China government take office in the Maldives, straining ties with the archipelago nation.
“There has been no overt pro-China, anti-India discourse in Bangladesh as we saw in Sri Lanka in the past or in Maldives at present,” according to Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor in geopolitics and international relations at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
Bangladesh is also crucial to the security of India’s remote northeastern states where insurgent groups used to be active. They often took sanctuary in Bangladesh, which shares borders with some of these states.
“Since Hasina has come to power, India’s northeastern problems have eased because she has not allowed Bangladesh to be used by such groups,” according to Gurjar.
Questions have been raised over the credibility of Hasina’s victory following the elections the opposition boycotted. Thousands of opposition activists were jailed in the run-up to the polls, raising concerns of democratic backsliding and authoritarianism.
In a statement, the U.S. State Department said, “The United States shares the view with other observers that these elections were not free or fair and we regret that not all parties participated.”
Despite the divergent stands taken by New Delhi and Washington, India is urging Western countries to work with Bangladesh.
“India will have to maintain a delicate balance, but New Delhi is playing the role of a facilitator between Hasina and Western countries,” according to Pant. “It is telling the U.S. that marginalizing or ignoring Bangladesh would only make China a much more central player in the country, which would not serve either India’s or Western interests.”
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China, Finland Held ‘Constructive’ Talks on Damaged Gas Pipeline
Helsinki, Finland — Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and China’s Xi Jinping on Wednesday said their countries held “constructive dialogue” over a Baltic Sea gas pipeline that Finnish authorities believe was damaged by a Chinese vessel, Helsinki said.
Finnish police in late October recovered an anchor believed to have damaged the Balticconnector pipeline between Finland and Estonia on October 8.
They said findings suggested it belonged to the Chinese cargo ship Newnew Polar Bear.
“The presidents noted the constructive dialogue between the countries regarding the Balticconnector pipeline incident,” a statement from the Finnish presidency said.
A Chinese statement about the presidents’ video-link meeting made no mention of talks on the damaged pipeline.
Finnish officials said in late October that China was cooperating in its investigation.
The incident came just over a year after underwater explosions struck three of four Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, cutting off a major supply route to Europe from Russia at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine.
The cause of that sabotage remains unknown.
The Finnish operator of Balticconnector said in October it would take at least five months to repair the pipeline, leaving Finland dependent on liquefied natural gas imports for the winter.
Natural gas accounts for around five percent of Finland’s energy consumption, being mainly used in industry and combined heat and power production.
In the Finnish statement, Niinisto, whose country joined NATO last year, said he had also raised the issue of the war in Ukraine in his talks with Xi and “stressed the role of China in achieving a just and lasting peace.”
In a summary of the meeting on Chinese state television CCTV, Xi said the Asian nation was “firmly pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace.”
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Zelenskyy Visits Lithuania to Discuss European Support Amid Russia War
One-Sided Bangladesh Election Raises Fear of One-Party Rule
Journalists Question Relevancy of Ukraine’s United TV Marathon
kyiv, ukraine — For nearly two years, some of Ukraine’s largest broadcasters have worked together under the United TV Marathon.
But as the fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion enters its third year, critics are questioning the usefulness and multimillion-dollar budget that goes into the broadcast.
Formed in February 2022, the coalition of six major broadcasters produces 24/7 coverage during the war. Each broadcaster — Suspilne, 1+1, Starlight Media, Media Group Ukraine, Inter Media Group, and the parliamentary Rada TV Channel — airs content for a set number of hours, with prime-time slots rotating between stations.
See related video by Cristina Caicedo Smit:
When the Marathon — as the united broadcaster is called — was first announced, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said the broadcasts were needed to consolidate resources and provide round-the-clock information objectively and promptly from across the country.
But journalists are starting to question whether the Marathon still offers value. Its relevancy was among the questions presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference in late December.
A journalist from Life magazine noted that viewership is low and asked Zelenskyy’s press secretary why the state allocates large sums to support it.
The state budget for 2024 allocates more than $45 million for the Marathon, along with the production of TV programming.
The Marathon restricts certain freedoms of journalists, said Iryna Sampan, a freelancer who works with outlets including Hromadske Radio and the Butusov Plus YouTube channel.
“It is possible to work freely and independently, but basically everything rests on the United Marathon,” Sampan said. “The journalists themselves are already saying that it is not needed in the second year of the war.”
She added that research showed the Marathon is “no longer needed. It has exhausted itself.”
But Orest Drymalovsky, a TV presenter at Marathon member Starlight Media, defended the production.
“The Marathon played a very important role at the beginning of the Russian invasion, in the first days when chaos — people are running, lack of information, Russian PSYOPs, a lot of fakes,” said Drymalovsky, host of the program “Vikna.”
“Broadcasting was not interrupted,” he said. “It was not possible to hack our system.”
With the war in its second year, “we are doing important things,” Drymalovsky said. “We can look at the information and coverage of events at the front. There are certain specifics that we can exhibit so as not to harm our defense force.”
‘Necessary’ at the start
Otar Dovzhenko, an expert at the nongovernmental Lviv Media Forum and chair of the Independent Media Council, agrees that in the early months, the Marathon was “relevant and necessary.”
At the start of the full invasion, the Marathon “was seen as an effective tool for countering disinformation, a central official source of information that could replace people’s less reliable sources,” Dovzhenko said.
But “by the summer of 2022, the situation stabilized, and the need for the Marathon disappeared,” he said.
Criticism of the broadcasts are less focused on the budget it takes to sustain it, and more that it is now seen as ineffective, Dovzhenko said, adding that some in the media “see it as a tool with which the government tries to influence society.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Some media outlets are excluded from the Marathon. Neither 5 Kanal nor Priamyi, which are associated with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, nor the opposition Espreso TV channel, are part of the Marathon.
Ukraine also took steps to close or sanction outlets with Russian affiliations.
In 2021, Zelenskyy signed a decree sanctioning ZIK, NewsOne and 112 Ukraine — three television stations believed to be affiliated with pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk.
Olha Bereziuk, a journalist at the English-language news website Gordon, said she believes the closure of media from Medvedchuk’s circle “is a step that provides security and protects the information space.”
But, she said, “There are doubts about the control of the opposition media, in particular from Poroshenko’s circle. I don’t know if they will be represented and in what quantity. But it is felt that they need to allocate a little more airtime, and the Marathon itself is a little questionable about its existence, its purpose and its financing.”
In a study published in August by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, half of the respondents said they did not watch the Marathon, and only 13% said they watched regularly. Of those who did watch, only 14% said they had complete trust in the information.
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US Experts Offer Scenarios of How War in Ukraine Might End
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the country’s ability to engage with Russia militarily has depended on Western support. With some of that aid now in limbo or drying up, this year could be especially difficult for Kyiv. VOA’s Andriy Borys spoke with military and diplomatic analysts about where the war stands, and where it could be headed. Anna Rice narrates the story.
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