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Ukrainian newspaper under threat in Crimea

01.04.2014   
Members of Crimea’s Ukrainian community are calling on Kyiv to support the newspaper Krymska Svitlytsa. They fear that the Ukrainian-language newspaper may cease publication now that the Crimea has been annexed by Russia.

Members of Crimea’s Ukrainian community are calling on Kyiv to support the newspaper Krymska Svitlytsa.  They fear that the Ukrainian-language newspaper may cease publication now that the Crimea has been annexed by Russia.

Petro Volvach, spokesperson for the community calls the creation of Krymska Svitlytsa one of the achievements of the Ukrainian community of the Crimea.  He says that “the closure of such a newspaper would be equivalent to stopping Ukrainian opinion in the Crimea.”  The paper has been a platform for local authors and facilitated the emergence of a number of prominent publicists.  

If the authorities in Kyiv are concerned about the fate of the Ukrainian population of the Crimea, they must do everything in their power to preserve the paper, Volvach says.  He thinks that the newspaper will definitely be deprived of its premises. 

The newspaper’s editor, Viktor Kachula says that the newspaper’s editorial team expect to be evicted at any time.  They have learned from bitter experience how to cope when the editorial office and newspaper’s archives are blocked, and have taken precautionary measures, with technology having been handed out to members of staff. They mainly work at home and come into the office to discuss the next issue and plan for further action.

Kachula believes the newspaper’s continued existence is vital for the Ukrainian community both in the Crimea and in Ukraine as a whole since it is a source of information about the real situation on the peninsula from within.  He adds that it should in fact come out more often.

The staff hope that the Kyiv government, and specifically the minister of culture, Yevhen Nyshchuk will find it possible, despite the extremely difficult situation at present, to support the paper. 

From a report at Radio Svoboda

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