An open letter to readers and grant donors regarding the persecution of freedom of speech and democracy in Ukraine by NGO "Detector Media"

Dear sir. or madam, dear friends, readers and viewers!

Today I want to talk to you about mediabullying and the destruction of democracy, which was organized with the money of American and European taxpayers by an organization called " Detector Media" through its website and the websites of structures affiliated with it.

For a long time we did not react to these marginal and completely false publications, but now, in the conditions of the criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine, they pose a mortal danger to the immature Ukrainian democracy, to me personally, to my family and my children.

In his nearest publication "Opposition Patriots. Old faces of pro-Russian "experts" on new YouTube channels" author Yulia Lavryshina claims that I am a "pro-Russian expert" who "served pro-Russian political projects" and also “spread myths and conspiracy theories about NATO” and so on. But if we follow the specified link, we will not find any of my direct language of this content, but only the previous lying texts of " Detector Media" or links to Russian sources!

I am deeply surprised and shocked, because there is not a single word of truth in the said article, except for my name; but this article poses an obvious threat to my life, the lives of my family and friends. This article is a complete tirade calling for violence against me personally and an attempt to "shut me up" as a well-known political expert. Although I am not a mass media or not at least a politician, I have an unconditional right to freedom of thought and speech in a democratic state.

At the end of this publication, NGO "Detector Media" and Yulia Lavryshina descend to the direct use against me of contemporary publications in the Russian mass media. Thus, the NGO "Media Detector" cites and draws into the Ukrainian space and distributes the materials of the most radical Russian mass media - the Federal News Agency, Izvestia, UkrainaRu, and others; which I did not comment on at all. My words, which are published by these Russian mass media, are either invented or completely distorted or stolen excerpts from comments for the Ukrainian mass media. As well as the words of the President or other public Ukrainians. But the NGO " detector media" for some reason considers the publications in the Russian mass media to be true and distributes them on the territory of Ukraine. Why?

I have not given comments to the Russian or Belarusian mass media since the beginning of the war, and I have not been to Russia for 10 years - since 2014. I was in Ukraine all the time, doing everything possible to protect and preserve Ukraine, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

I don't know why the NGO " detector media" and Yulia Lavryshyn are spreading Russian propaganda in Ukraine - at the expense of American and European taxpayers. But maybe Hristo Grozev knows the answer to this question, who stated that many Ukrainian liberals have received funds from Moscow for years...

Attacks by the NGO " detector media" in relation to people's religious or linguistic beliefs... in general reek of the fiercest Stalinism and racism.

But I am not surprised by the publications of Detector Media, which has a reputation as a "garbage dump" in Ukraine.

Back in 2018, I wrote an official letter to Ms. N. Ligachova with a proposal for dialogue and discussion. Until now, I have not received an answer to this letter, despite the fact that I head one of the largest Ukrainian analytical centers, the work of which is used by representatives of dozens of representative offices of international organizations and embassies in Ukraine, hundreds of business and political subjects. Although my proposal for dialogue is still open, but now I propose to conduct this dialogue on a lie detector and in public! We can ask law enforcement agencies of Ukraine to act as technical arbiters.

I am open and I have nothing to hide! I have nothing to fear or be ashamed of.

I am only surprised by the position of the donors of the NGO "Detector Media" - the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Internews (USA), ISAR "Yednannia", the National Fund for the Support of Democracy (NED), the Open Information Partnership (Great Britain), the EU Representation in Ukraine ( Eastern Partnership), Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, International Renaissance Fund, Chemonics International, Defense Technology Institute, Non-Governmental Organization "People in Need", International Media Support.

I am turning to you - dear donors! You help Ukraine a lot and we are sincerely grateful to you for that. But did you really think that you were giving money to the NGO "Media Detector" for the war against Russian propaganda? In fact, this money simply goes to the internal political war in Ukraine and settling political accounts and persecution, the fight against democracy and freedom of speech, the strengthening of conflicts and the atmosphere of mistrust in Ukrainian society.

And you are also responsible for democracy in Ukraine, my life, the life of my family and children.

NGO "Detector Media", which was created ostensibly to ensure the standards of journalism, in its grant applications undertakes to strictly adhere to them, now itself brutally violates all possible journalistic standards taken together, calls for violence and discrimination, acts as a mouthpiece for disinformation, fights against freedom of speech and democracy in Ukraine.

 

Ruslan Bortnik,

director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics

 

 

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