The Russia-24 channel falsely reported that inhabitants of the small village of Berezove in Rivne Oblast demanded autonomy for their village and were going to introduce a visa regime. It was also reported that the town was under Right Sector’s control, and as a consequence, the area police were powerless. The news was picked up by several Russian sites and was also spread by the social network Vkontakte.
“They insulate themselves with roadblocks against their neighbors who regularly try to visit them, fire guns, and beat locals,” the report claims. “Even police officers have no rights here.”
https://youtu.be/t-FqSHkGMeU
However, this is a contrivance. The video used Russia-24 was initially from a report by Inna Beletska, a journalist from the Ukrainian channel Inter. She was investigating the illegal production of amber in Rivne Oblast, as reported by Podrobnosti.ua. Russian journalists then distorted the information, threw in the Right Sector, and took everything out of context.
https://youtu.be/DAvQi0Ari8w
The original news item makes no mention of the Right Sector, a visa regime, or the powerlessness of area police. It actually addressed police inaction. There is only one mention of autonomy in Beletska’s report: “Amid the latest news, local papers report that the inhabitants of Berezove demand autonomy because of police inaction.”
Sources: Radio Freedom, Podrobnosti.
