Spokesperson for the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Olena Hitlianska explains that some journalists were not allowed to attend an official ceremony when a TV tower on Karachun Mountain in eastern Ukraine was launched with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's participation because they either lacked ID documents or were involved in criminal proceedings.

"Members of the media who had limited access to the event, according to available information, are involved in criminal proceedings, including for illegal possession of weapons, or did not provide ID documents to the law enforcement agencies. There was no possibility to quickly find out details of the situation in the 'field' conditions, so their access to the event was limited for security reason," Hitlianska wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

She emphasized that the decision had been taken in relation to certain individuals, not the media outlets they represented. "All accredited media had unimpeded access to cover the event," she said.

Hitlianska added that the SBU would carefully check whether security officers involved in the incident acted properly. She also apologized on behalf of the SBU heads "for possible overestimation by the officers of threats."

Earlier media reported that some members of the media had not been allowed to attend the launch of the TV tower on Karachun Mountain near the town of Slovyansk in Donbas. After search and database checks, some of them were kept in a bus, which brought journalists to the venue from the town of Kramatorsk.