Newsweek: Kyiv condemns mystery torching of major Russian-language TV channel

Published Sept. 5, 2016 at 7:09 pm

Activist block TV channel \"Inter\" during their rally in Kyiv on September 5, 2016. Activists, who accused the Inter - one of the biggest Ukrainian TV channels - of a pro-Russian position and working for the Kremlin, blocked the channel's central office and the studios in order to hault its operation. On September 4, they attacked the TV channel's branch that creates news for the Inter that resulted in a large-scale fire that left a number of people injured in the office.

Photo by AFP

Ukraine's president and opposition leaders have condemned an arson attack by mysterious assailants on one of the country’s largest Russian-language broadcasters.

The Kyiv office of Ukraine’s Inter TV channel, often described as the country’s most popular channel, was besieged by a group of individuals on Sept. 4, who set the the office block on fire. The mob also set tires ablaze at the broadcaster’s main entrance. The building has long been targeted by protesters due to its coverage of Crimea’s annexation and conflict in east Ukraine.