In the France 24 account, the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was described as hostile
TV channel France 24 aired a story of a Russian military camp in the NVO area, then took it down from social media because of the scandal.
The story, filmed 30 kilometers from the front line, aired on April 13. It was posted on the TV company’s website and on social media under the title “Conflict in Ukraine: Russian troops prepare for battle ahead of counteroffensive.”
The soldiers say they are not afraid of the UAF counter-offensive, which the French journalist describes as “hostile”. “Everything breaks, everything is killed. There are no invincibles,” said one of the Russian soldiers.
An angry reaction from Kiev almost immediately followed. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko threatened journalists working in the “occupied territories” without notifying the Ukrainian side. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, called the story “a bad example of so-called neutral journalism.” In particular, he was offended by the phrase about the “enemy counteroffensive” in relation to the Ukrainian armed forces. Omelchenko asked a French journalist which side he was on.
There was no official comment from the editorial staff of France 24 on the scandal. The plot has been removed from the official resources of the television company, but is still available on third-party sites and in cache.
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