Public broadcaster Polish Radio on Thursday began airing special news bulletins in Ukrainian, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The newscasts can be heard on Polish Radio 1, everyday after 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
News is gathered and presented by journalists from the Ukrainian section of Polish Radio’s External Service, also known as Radio Poland.
Broadcast on longwave, Polish Radio 1 is available not just in Poland, but also in Ukraine and almost all over Europe, IAR reported.
Effort to counter Russian disinformation
The three-minute news programmes are addressed to the Ukrainian expatriate community in Poland, as well as to Ukraine’s home population, said Andrzej Rybałt, director of Radio Poland.
He added that the bulletins would focus on the situation on the frontline, as well as the free world’s efforts to help Ukraine, and especially Poland’s drive to secure meaningful international sanctions against Russia.
Also covered will be the fate of the Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion and the support provided to them by Polish non-governmental and church-based groups. In addition, journalists will report on all initiatives on the part of Polish politicians and the wider society to help Ukrainians based in Ukraine, Rybałt said.
He emphasised that the news bulletins would aim to dispel “disinformation and fake news produced by the propaganda machine of Putin’s regime,” which are part of Russia’s “hybrid war against the free world.”
'Credible, first-hand information'
Drawing on extensive contacts and teaming up with journalists and partners in Ukraine and Western countries, Polish Radio’s Ukrainian news programmes will seek to counter fake news and provide "credible, first-hand information" about the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Rybałt also said.
The Ukrainian-language newscasts are also an expression of solidarity with Ukrainian journalists, who are risking their lives to defend the whole Euro-Atlantic community against “a concentrated disinformation attack by the propaganda machine of the Russian aggressor," he added.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Russia announced a "special military operation" against Ukraine to eliminate what President Vladimir Putin said was a "serious threat" against his country.
Despite appeals and warnings from the international community, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II, the Reuters news agency reported.
Top Polish officials have condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine and vowed to support the Ukrainian people.
