Poroshenko says attempts underway to raid Pryamiy TV, denies ties with channel

15:12, 12.08.2019 1 min read

Ukraine's ex-President and European Solidarity Party leader Petro Poroshenko has said attempts are being made to seize the Pryamiy TV channel by raiders.

"There are grounds to assert that we are dealing with an attempt by raiders to seize Pryamiy TV. The instigator is [ex-Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Andriy] Portnov [who served under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych]," Poroshenko told journalists in Kyiv on Monday.

Poroshenko said Portnov's statement "has nothing in common with the truth," and that the SBI [State Bureau of Investigation] has "been trying to terrorize journalists" for more than three months.

"Let me state again. I do not have any property relations or ownership relations with Pryamiy TV," Poroshenko said.

Poroshenko said his team would take decisive steps to combat against resources, means and instruments of influence used by the aggressor country to encroach on Ukraine's information space.