Journalists face threats if they criticize NATO, Ukrainian govt: Press TV’s correspondent

A Press TV correspondent says the security situation inside Ukraine is too dangerous for journalists critical of the Kiev government or the US-led NATO Western military alliance. 

Johnny Miller was in Ukraine last week to cover the conflict with Russia. But he cut his trip short and is now in Budapest.

Miller told in a recent interview with Press TV that the Ukrainian authorities had desperately attempted to ensure that broadcast coverage of controversial issues was advantageous or beneficial to them

“Security situation inside Ukraine was too dangerous, A Few days ago, the Ukrainian government banned most opposition parties in the country, and they banned most media except for one central channel,” Miller said.

“In Ukraine, right now, there is a feeling of anybody who reports in anyway against or critical of Ukraine government or critical of NATO, I think he is seriously under threat,” he added.

Miller further said if an independent journalists like me seeks to deliver criticism of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalists or intends to cover stories such as the United States and NATO’s involvement in the conflict and their shipment of weapons to Ukraine, he would be endangering his life.

He further said that the journalists were not allowed to cover controversial topics such as NATO’s Eastward expansion of NATO have chosen Ukraine as a staging ground for a proxy war with Russia.

In a televised speech on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine following Moscow’s recognition of Lugansk and Donetsk “republics.”

The conflict has provoked a unanimous response from Western countries, which have imposed a long list of sanctions on Moscow. Russia says it will halt the military operation instantly if Kiev meets Moscow’s list of demands, including never applying to join NATO.

The russia-Ukraine conflict has shocked the world as the largest cross-border European conflict in decades.

The social media world in recent days has become flooded with clips of Western journalists expressing racist views while covering the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, some Western major news outlets have aired racist views, often using comparisons with West Asia, describing Ukraine as more “civilized” than other countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria.

Onlookers, particularly from minority communities, have been left appalled by wording that makes white Europeans seem more human.