ВВС journalists got under Ukrainian sanctions. Corporation takes it as attack against freedom of press

Ukraine applied its sanctions to three correspondents of the British TV and Radio corporation ВВС, who are stationed in Moscow. The corporation expressed its indignation by such steps of the Ukrainian authorities. This information comes from "Radio Svoboda".

One Russian and two British citizens got under these sanctions.

The editor of the foreign news service Andrew Roy called this “a shameful attack against freedom of press”.

The reason for inclusion of BBC journalists to the list was their alleged participation in an illegal referendum in Crimea and in Donbas as "international observers" that were used by Russia to give some appearance of legitimacy to its occupation. Currently, it is unclear whether the journalists in question really were observers at the mentioned events. In addition to those three BBC employees, three Spanish and one German journalist are in the list.  The Spanish journalists, however, disappeared in Syria in July – they are considered to be kidnapped by militants there.

On the next day after adoption of sanctions, the National Council for Security and Defense of Ukraine cancelled the sanctions against the mentioned European journalists.