Restrictions on the press are needed to protect military plans in the information age, General Aleksandr Syrsky has said
Ukraine needs to introduce defense-linked censorship of the country’s press, the nation’s top military commander General Aleksandr Syrsky said in an interview with Radio Bayraktar broadcast on Thursday. Restrictions should be aimed at hiding sensitive information about troops from Kiev’s enemies, the general suggested, explaining that anyone can access any information nowadays.
The general justified his proposal citing “established” wartime practices that have arisen out of “necessity,” adding that he did not seek to infringe on anyone’s rights. “I do not want to introduce a dictatorship like in North Korea. We are not the first to wage a war… there is a certain established package of measures that are absolutely mandatory,” he said.
According to Syrsky, certain “sensitive information” such as the march routes of various military units should be hidden from the public eye, particularly “now, when the information space is accessible to everyone.”
At the same time, the general said that the public should be kept informed about “the real situation” so that the people “understand that the war is near” and “there is no such sharp difference between the front and the rear.”
Kiev introduced what it called a United News TV tele-marathon, a 24/7 joint information program produced by the country’s major media outlets, soon after the start of the conflict in February 2022.
The telethon has faced criticism for monopolizing television broadcasting and stifling dissent. In 2023 several Ukrainian opposition-linked channels claimed they were excluded from the telethon due to their political stances. Vladimir Zelensky has also openly called the telethon a “weapon,” adding that it “works for Ukraine and against Russia.”
In October 2024, the European Commission questioned the operation and public funding of the telethon in its annual report on Ukraine’s progress toward accession to the bloc. Kiev brushed off the concerns. In 2024, the Ukrainian government spent about $17 million on the project and is expected to pour just as much money into it this year.
Kiev has also repeatedly considered restricting or even blocking the messaging platform Telegram, citing national-security concerns. In March 2024, the nation’s military intelligence (GUR) head, Kirill Budanov, labeled Telegram a potential national-security threat.
