By KYIV. Oct 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sanctions against Russian media are the best solution to protect societies, First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said and proposed the creation of a special website to combat disinformation, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday.
"Sanctions against Russian media were and remain the best solution to protect our societies. However, the harmful influence of Russian propaganda and disinformation is still present. As it has taken deep roots around the world over the years. Calls for appeasement, manipulation of rising prices, attempts to blow up military assistance are just some of the challenges we deal with every day," the press service quoted Dzhaparova as saying.
On October 28, the First Deputy Minister reportedly opened the online event "Creative ways to promote resilience to disinformation and misinformation in turbulent times," organized by the Permanent Missions of Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom to the UN as part of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week.
"Emine Dzhaparova proposed to create a special website with the participation of the Department of Global Communications of the UN Secretariat, containing best practices and creative ideas in the field of combating disinformation," the message says.
According to her, disinformation and propaganda are part of Russia’s toolkit in its war against Ukraine, with which Russian officials and propagandists have been trying to justify Russian aggression and crimes since February 24. In particular, the last of them about the so-called "dirty bomb" that Ukraine is allegedly developing to attack Russia and which the Russian delegation is trying to promote within the UN.
In addition, among other examples of Russian disinformation, Dzhaparova cited Russia’s intention to shift responsibility to Ukraine for allegedly provoking a global food crisis. She stressed that it was the Russian occupiers who blocked Ukrainian ports, threatened freedom of navigation, fired at Ukrainian storage facilities with agricultural products, and blocked transport routes. "Today, Russia is again threatening to resume the Hunger Games," the First Deputy Minister said.
At the same time, according to Dzhaparova, from the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s priority has been to seize the initiative on the information front.
"In 2014, it was very difficult to explain even to the European audience that this is a real war, not a crisis. That it was Russia that unleashed the war, and not some ‘militants.’ I am glad that we managed to open the world’s eyes and strike at the Russian propaganda machine," she concluded.
