Residents of the temporarily occupied area of Donetsk region in Ukraine are now receiving russian-language local news bulletins from one of russia’s major broadcast organisations, the UK Defense Intelligence reports. On September 4, the All-russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) opened a Donetsk franchise and commenced broadcasting in the internationally unrecognised Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Local news bulletins are provided by russia’s Rossiya 1TV Channel and present the russian view of the war. This is part of russia’s broader effort to assert enduring control of the area.
Ukraine-based russian language television and radio stations were freely available in the now-annexed areas before 2014. After the invasion, pan-Ukraine providers continued to provide locally sourced russian-language content. DPR-government-controlled and aligned broadcasters also rebroadcast russian national news programming as part of a propaganda campaign but did not provide regional bulletins.
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Broadcasting VGTRK in Donetsk has taken over a year to achieve, having first been announced in 2022. This was almost certainly due to the refusal to work of trained local technicians. Those sympathetic to the DPR and with the required skills have now likely been brought in from Crimea, Luhansk and elsewhere.
Although blocked over the airwaves, Ukrainian broadcasting is still accessible to a wide audience via the internet. Where russian filtering restrictions are in force, audiences use VPN or other active circumvention technologies. Mobile phones linked to Ukrainian providers are highly likely unfettered.
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