As we approached the elections, the theme of fighting in Donbas gradually receded. The amount of paid materials increased two weeks before the elections; “Opposition Block” became extremely active emphasizing on its stability, pensions, and warmth. Also, news presented a lot of black PR. On "Inter" and "1+1", black PR was daily and regular.

Monday, October 13

The main event of the day was the demarche of special forces "Bars" near the president’s administration. Another important news was the resignation of Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey.

The material on TSN about the return of the battalion "Kievan Rus" has unjustified comment of the unaffiliated candidate Serhiy Mishchenko: "We shout to make the officials listen to these women, mothers, wives, fathers, and these joint efforts helped us achieve the rotation." In the material about lustration in Cherkasy, the correspondent presented three unnecessary comments of “Svoboda” member Oleh Syrotiuk. The same situation is with the material about remembering wedding traditions at the festival in the Carpathian region because there, the journalist showed a comment of the candidate Oleksandr Shevchenko who is close to the owner of “1+1”.

"TSN" does not stop its war against Oleh Lyashko. On Monday, it had a video about Lyashko destroying billboards: "Oleh Lyashko damaged someone else's property that cost tens of thousand hryvnia! Odious radical politician alongside a group of unidentified people damaged several large advertising constructions that had funny clowns admitting their support for the candidate. Police has already recorded this violation of freedom of speech.  Law enforcement officials promise to punish the guilty ones”. The material does not show Lyashko’s position.

"Inter" invited Andriy Filonenko, commander of the battalion “Shakhtarsk”, so he could accuse the Vice Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration (Kolomoyskyi’s deputy, as hostess added) Hennadiy Korban. The channel did not balance the opinions either.

In the video about German homes for migrants, “Podrobnosti” present an unjustified comment of the candidate from “Opposition Block” Mykhaylo Dobkin: “There is no government program to settle refugees. There is no program that indicates the kinds of social support immigrants and refugees can get on a particular territory. There are no preferences for businesses and industrial enterprises that would provide job opportunities to employ this part of the population.” The same situation is in the video about the murder of Ivan Velykyi from “Udar”; for some reason, Nestor Shufrych from “Opposition Block” comments this event.

Then, there are five paid materials in “Podrobnosti”.

«Sylna Ukrayina»: «By increasing tariffs and prices for almost everything while reducing real pensions, salaries, and payments, the government puts people and the country’s economy into a deadlock» (Serhiy Tihipko, the party’s leader)

«Batkivshchyna»: “We are here to support Nadiya Savchenko. I think that every Ukrainian should be able to count on the country and the compatriots even if this person is in Russian prison. Therefore, we are here to ensure that human rights of a true Ukrainian patriot Nadiya Savchenko are being respected"(Andriy Shevchenko, the candidate from "Batkivshchyna").

“Opposition Block”: “Today, the real center of the reforms is not in the cabinets or administrative buildings, but in the laboratories and advanced research centers. Our task is to make sure that our leading scientists are working for the development of our country" (Volodymyr Semynozhenko, the candidate from “Opposition Block”).

"Hromadyanska Pozytsiya": "Putin and his terrorists control the tens of thousands of square kilometers in Donbas and occupy millions of people. According to President’s order, we are preparing three lines of defense. This territory is being separated with barbed wire. This means that there are no Ukrainian laws and Ukraine has lost sovereignty over these territories". (Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the party’s leader). The same material was shown on the channel "Ukrayina".

And again, “Opposition Block”: “The objective of “Opposition Block" is to protect every Ukrainian family. Unlike the current authorities, we have the knowledge and professional experience in the government. We have a specific plan that will stop the war, save jobs and restore the economy". (Yurіy Boyko, the leader of the party).

Further in the issue, there is hidden advertising of Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party: "Two weeks before the elections, Radical Party lustrated its candidates. The members are proud with their decision. They say that the nation demanded getting rid of the two candidates with legal charges, and one pensioner who has been the deputy for five times." Using Lyashko’s comments, the channel also airs anti-advertising of the candidate Oleksandr Shevchenko, who is close to Kolomoyskyi: “In the 83th district, so-called democrat Shevchenko runs for the parliament. He is actually a puppet of oligarch Kolomoyskyi. We will not let oligarchs have a majority in parliament. We will not let oligarchs get into the Parliament, we will stop them. And if these bastards still get there, we will kick them out”. There is no balance in the material (or rather, the right of an accused person to reply), and there is no real informational cause for it.

In the material about Nadiya Savchenko being subjected to compulsory psychological examination, ICTV focused on her partisanship: "Management of “Batkivshchyna" is in constant contact with international organizations in order to release Savchenko. The deputies stress that Ukrainian pilot is innocent and illegally held in prison. If Savchenko gets into Rada, the party will delegate her into the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and that will give her a special status and accelerate her liberation." There is also an unjustified comment of “Batkivshchyna” representative Andriy Kozhemyakin.

“Fakty” also have an agitation for “Opposition Block" and "Sylna Ukrayina”:

 "Opposition Block": "Opposition Block intends to protect Ukrainians from high prices and increased utility rates, says the party’s leader Yuriy Boyko. The opposition party has prepared a bill for protection and support of the families. They say that the current government has frozen the pensions, salaries for state employees, and increased communal tariffs. Instead, the opposition offered to freeze the prices on social products, keep the same tariffs on granary, and increase social benefits for children. Opposition promised quick registration for refugees and assistance in obtaining food, housing, and medical care."

"Sylna Ukrayina": "The rise of prices and tariffs and the decrease of people’s salaries could lead to a social explosion. This is the opinion of the party "Sylna Ukrayina". Its leader, Serhiy Tihipko, visited Kyiv region today. Politician was not satisfied with Cabinet of Ministers’ initiative to change the Tax Code. Under this initiative, Ukrainians will have to pay a tax of 24 hryvnia for per square meter of their houses. Tihipko believes that we should lower taxes and support exporters. And the current direction of the officials leads people to serious economic problems."

In the material about the creation of Public Council to oversee lustration, First National titrates the candidate from "Samopomich" Yehor Sobolev as the head of public lustration committee of Ukraine. His comment was also not really appropriate: "We welcome investigative journalists, civil society activists, who have a reputation, experience and success in the fight against corruption, to form a Steering Lustration Committee". So far, the First National did not have any paid news, so we assume it to be a mistake, but editors should be vigilant.

"Ukrayina” aired two materials about Akhmetov’s charity; the first one is about humanitarian aid in Mariupol, and the second one is about the conference for volunteers “Cooperation without Borders” with commentary of Dariya Kasyanova from Akhmetov’s Foundation. Further, there are three more paid materials in the issue:

"Batkivshchyna": "Tomorrow, the Parliament will consider the bill on the Prosecution. It was announced by the head of "Batkivshchyna” Serhiy Sobolev after the conciliation board. The adoption of this law was one of the main requirements of “Batkivshchyna” from the President of Ukraine." Then, there is politician’s comment: “This is a historic moment because it is impossible to change the law system and fight corruption without it”.

 "Opposition Block”: “Opposition Block” prepared a law to protect the families from the high prices and utility tariffs. The leader of the party, Yuriy Boyko, proposes to freeze prices for communal tariffs and increase social benefits." Then, there is a comment of the candidate from “Opposition Block” Yurіy Boyko. STB had a similar material.

“Hromadyanska Pozytsіya": “Leader of “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” Anatoliy Hrytsenko states that truce in the East is beneficial for Russia and terrorists. According to him, it will lead to giving up Ukraine’s interests in the East.” Then, there is Hrytsenko’s comment. The same material is on STB, too.

“Ukrayina” mentions Ihor Kolomoyskyi in the material about the restart of 34th Channel’s broadcast in Dnipropetrovsk: "We want to remind that when technicians of "34th Channel” asked about the reasons for shutting down the channel, the director of Dnipropetrovsk branch of BRT Concern, Kyrylo Danilov (who is also a university friend of the governor and the oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi), the latter advised them to appeal to the Regional Administration directly."

STB’s “Vikna” aired a material on the renewal of life in Luhansk region based on the governor’s personality who is trying to restore the order. The journalist shows 5 comments of Moskal and ends the material with his words: "In every village, I have a separate meeting. Where there was no light, it is already working, where there was no gas, it is already there, where there was no water, it is already there, too."

There is a paid material about “Medsanbat” being a “private initiative of Viktor and Olena Pinchuk. Dmytro Lytvynenko saw everything with his own eyes”, "To reduce mortality and disability percentage, Viktor and Olena Pinchuk, Ukrainian World Congress, and the Ministry of Defense started a joint project.” The issue also advertises “Sylna Ukrayina”: “The increase of tariffs and prices and salaries’ decrease may lead to a social explosion. This statement was made by the leader of the party "Sylna Ukrayina” Serhiy Tihipko. He believes that now, problems are being solved with the wallets of ordinary people."

On October 13, the news on analyzed channels had 29 materials with signs of paid news. Most of them were on "Inter" (10), then, “Ukrayina” (7), STB and "1+1" (4), and ICTV (3). “Opposition Block" was the most “generous” and had the biggest amount of paid news (6), then – “Batkivshchyna” (4), “Sylna Ukrayina” (3), and “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” (2). "Svoboda”, “Samopomich” and Radical Party each had one paid material.

October 14, Tuesday

The main topic of the day was the upheaval near Verkhovna Rada when the protesters attacked the police.

"Podrobnosti" often do not titrate the politicians as candidates of a particular political party. Boryslav Bereza is titrared as the “representative of Pravyi Sektor”, Oles Doniy - as the deputy of “European sovereign Ukraine", and Lyashko is titrated as unaffiliated deputy. The same problem is with titration of Nestor Shufrych, Oleh Tiahnybok, and Viktor Chumak. These comments were not informative; for example, Lyashko says: "Who, angels with white wings, are going to work in anti-corruption bureau? Where are you going to find these angels? Out of prosecutors, the courts, the Security Services? There is a court decision for that. If someone is corrupted, take him by his ass and punish, but in accordance to the law. "

Nestor Shufrych’s comment has nothing to do with the lustration law although the material speaks about it: “Today, we demand the resignation of the government although we understand that in 2 months, it will have to leave anyways. But I'm pretty sure we will not survive 2 months with this government that cares only about the elections.” ICTV used an identical comment of Shufrych, and also, showed an unjustified comment of the candidate and the leader of the party "Sylna Ukrayina" Serhiy Tihipko: “I believe that today, it would be inappropriate to delay the adoption of this legislation. But I would like to warn all. Today, there is a lot of optimism, but looking at the country's leadership, I see that these laws will not solve anything. Today, Ukraine does not have the same thing that is the political will to combat corruption. "

“Podrobnosti” violated a number of standards and attacked Kolomoyskyi in the material about Odesa refinery plant: “Oligarch from the past and oligarch from the present raid the state’s property. The government is silent about it"; "Now, experts are wondering whether Kurchenko is at war with Kolomoyskyi for these assets, or did they conspire to take out everything and then divide?", "And the opposition believes it is the state’s property, not the collusion of oligarchs Kurchenko and Kolomoiskiy”, and so on.

This material also shows inappropriate comment of the candidate from "Opposition Block" Mykola Skoryk: “Things that are happening now at Odesa refinery mean a war of the previous oligarch who robbed our country with the current oligarch who practically merged with the government and represents it today in his region. The only way out is the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers that promotes raider acts”. The journalists give plenty of judgments: "The government either does not see what is happening there, or does not want to see. The politicians care about the elections only."

The material about attacking agitators of "Opposition Block" showed three comments of party representatives without the balance. Then, there are eight materials with paid news features.

"Batkivshchyna": "Leader of “Batkivshchyna” Yuliya Tymoshenko visited the liturgy at the Holy Protection Cathedral in the city of Rivne. She congratulated the people with the celebration, promised never to give up, and received the blessing of the Archbishop.” The same material was on “Ukrayina” and STB.

"Opposition Block": "United leftists of European Parliament organized a conference in Brussels where they debated about the Ukrainian crisis. They complained about the ban on the Communist Party, listened to the expert from Moscow and guests from Ukraine. Today, oppositionist Oleksandr Vilkul in Brussels showed a video of the beating of his fellow party member Nestor Shufrych in Odesa. And this is the reaction.” Oleksandr Vіlkul: "European politicians are very negative about the government's actions. If you do not stop the radicals hidden in the current government, this elections may be the dirtiest in the history of Ukraine. Therefore, the European Parliament will send the maximum number of observers to Ukraine.” This is a typical usage of “Vilkul’s friends” to create an illusion that he has connections with European politicians.

“Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”: “The current drug prices are unreal for Ukrainians. This is the opinion of the leader of “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” Anatoliy Hrytsenko. He appealed to the government to establish a new system of market surveillance of medicines."

“Zastup”: “Ukrainian Agrarian Union "ZASTUP" presented Donetsk refugees with a house in Kirovohrad region. Now, they live near their relatives."

“Sylna Ukrayina”: “Sylna Ukrayina” stated that the Parliament could enact new laws. But while the country has a high corruption level, the reforms will not work. The party says we need control of civil society and the political will." Serhiy Tihipko, the party’s leader: “I believe that today, it would be inappropriate to delay the adoption of this legislation. Today, there is a lot of optimism, but looking at the country's leadership, I see that these laws will not solve anything. Today Ukraine does not have the main thing that is the political will to combat corruption. "

And again, “Opposition Block”: "Kherson Shipyard Plant cannot work. The workers said that the company that used to produce series of tankers, has suffered because of the loss of the Russian market. Leader of the "Opposition Block" Yuriy Boyko promised to help shipbuilders."

“Podrobnosti” also have an open agitation for “Petro Poroshenko’s Block”: "Internal lustration was conducted in Petro Poroshenko’s Block. Themembers state they want to have only the strongest candidates on single-member districts. They do not want to bring old faces into the new parliament. There are many of them." There are also suspicions about the material about Maryna Poroshenko that embroidered a towel and gave it to the temple.

“Radical party”: “On the holiday of Pokrova, Oleh Lyashko decided to visit house-museum of Roman Shukhevych in Lviv alongside the hero’s son”. Oleh Lyashko, the party’s leader: “Yuriy Shukhevych, the son of Roman Shukhevych, will become a deputy of Verkhovna Rada. This is our historic mission. “Radical Party” wants to bring the spirit and the name of Shukhevych into the new Ukrainian parliament”.

For the first time, ICTV aired a material in favor of "Samopomich": "Those who want to get to the mighty Olympus use all possible tools to show that they want their positions not out of mercenary motives. Five “Samopomich” deputies from Kyiv city council underwent a survey on the lie detector”, “The deputy from “Samopomich” Serhiy Husovskyi went among the first. He was a little bit tired, but did not worry and never lied. The deputy believes that such a procedure is mandatory for everyone who wants to go into politics”, "All deputies from the “Samopomich” passed the test for truth. They suggest that others do the same." However, the audience heard only one question and did not receive the confirmation that the answer was true.

Traditionally, ICTV praises the owner’s family member Leonid Kuchma: "Official representative of Ukraine in Minsk contact group on the resolution of the situation in the East Leonid Kuchma does not forget about his spiritual projects. The second president presented music schools with more than 40 pianos of world famous manufacturer. Now, the charity rally came to Lviv. Leonid Kuchma personally handed instrument to music school of Solomiya Krushelnytska."

5th Channel titrated the candidate from “Petro Poroshenko’s Block” Viktor Chumak as the Chairman of the Committee on Fighting Organized Crime and Corruption.

"Ukrayina" invited the candidate from “Opposition Block” Yuriy Boyko into the studio. He talked for a few minutes about the mistakes of the authorities and responded to positive questions of the hostess. “Sobitiya” does not forget to promote the channel’s investor, Rinat Akhmetov: “Humanitarian aid from Rinat Akhmetov continues to come into the zone of a humanitarian catastrophe. Now, 500 tons of products are being unloaded in the distribution base in Mariupol, and after that, the volunteers will pack the food into sets. Another convoy arrived to Mariupol yesterday. Today, another 500 tons of food came. A few days later, 90,000 of food packages will be sent to ATO zone. Most of them will go to Donetsk, and the rest will be sent to the residents of Mariupol, Khartsysk, Amvrosiyivka, Uhledar, Selidovo, and Novohrodovka."

Later in the issue, there are three more paid materials:

"Narodnyi Front": "The leader of “Narodnyi Front” Arseniy Yatseniuk wants to implement the criminal liability for bribery of voters, falsification of documents, theft and burglary of the urns. He says that changes to the criminal code are already prepared, all they require political will of the deputies. "

“Opposition Block”: "The representative of “Opposition Block” Nestor Shufrych believes the current government is only keen on elections and does not care about the fates of Ukrainians. According to Shufrych, the parliamentarians are implementing populist laws to boost their ratings, rather than to prepare the country for winter."

"Batkivshchyna": "Yuliya Tymoshenko celebrated Pokrova holiday in Rivne region. Symbolically, the leader of “Batkivshchyna” visited Svyato-Pokrova cathedral. There, she prayed with parishioners for the country, urged not to give up, and keep on fighting against the Russian aggressors."

Oleh Tyahnibok, the leader of "Svoboda": “Just as the state did not yet recognize the heroes of UPA, there is a high probability that the people who are fighting now on the East will not be recognized, too. It’s not a very good parallel”.

Andriy Cherkasov from “Opposition Block” was invited to the studio of “Ukrayina”. There, he criticized the government and described his recipes for "improvement." The host is visibly engaged in his speech: “You are an honest candidate, and you agitate not only with words, but actions”.

STB talks about Leonid Kuchma for the second day in a row. This time, he gave piano to the music school in the city of Lviv and advised what to do to stop Russian aggression.

On October 14, the news had 28 materials with signs of paid news. There were 15 of them on "Inter", 7 on "Ukrayina", 4 on ICTV, and STB, "1+1" and 5th Channel each had one. Among the alleged customers, “Opposition Block” is in the first place (6), then, there is Petro Poroshenko’s Block (3), and "Sylna Ukrayina", Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party, and “Batkivshchyna” each had 2.

October 15, Wednesday

The main topic of the day was the conflict in front zone in Donbas.

"1+1" airs a paid material in favor of Kolomoyskyi’s protégé, and former member of “Party of Regions” Vitaliy Hrushevskyi: "However, the enemy for the Russians is the friend for Ukrainians. According to the latest polls, Vitaliy Hrushevskyi is winning in the 101th district of Kirovohrad. According to surveys of Ukraine’s Regional Development Research Institute, 36% respondents are willing to vote for the current deputy. His closest rival is the singing rector Mykhaylo Poplavskyi who rate is twice as small. Sociologists explain that voters respond positively to those candidates who actually help their district."

"Inter" also cares about its protégés such as the candidate from Troyeshchyna Boryslav Bereza (the channel shows him two days in a row), and one of the leaders of “Opposition Block” Nestor Shufrych, who tries to criticize the construction of the wall on the border with Russia: “This government is merely for PR. We understand very well that nobody demands that wall, and it is just the desire to promote current government. It would be better if the money was used to help those people who are really affected by the devaluation of hryvnia that lost twice of its value. And instead of preparing the country for the winter, the government cares about elections only and does everything to promote itself. We have to get rid of such government as quickly as possible."

 Today, “Inter” had its first negative material about “Samopomich”: "Lviv is the marvelous city of Ukraine that is still one on one with its problems. Lviv residents have to help themselves. More – in Andriy Kravets’ material”, “Unknown people quietly privatized the land. The first deputy mayor is the one to explain it. According to the activists, the mayor escaped the moment he saw them”, “I remember Sadovyi visiting us. But this is a very dangerous man, and if you did something well, he sees it, and you may lose everything. I believe that Andriy Sadovyi could easily do this (close the gallery – TK). But he did not” (Oksana Macheus, the managing director of the Art Gallery “Art 11"), “City council member, who tried to block the scandalous deal, says that the mayor knew perfectly well about the selling of square meters at a price at least twice cheaper than the market one," and so on. There is no balance in the material; during the next days, black PR against “Samopomich” will become regular and mass.

In the material about “Pravyi Sektor” blocking "Zaporizhstal”, the journalists use unnecessary comment of the candidate from “Opposition Block” Oleksandr Vilkul: "Such actions under PR slogans are the rehearsals of raider takeovers. This is the life of the enterprise that influences the lives of hundreds thousands people. This is very similar to the rehearsal of a coup d'etat which takes place in Kyiv. Europe sees it very well. And we will not allow economic destabilization to take place in the country." The material on ICTV is in favor of Akhmetov: "Such actions destabilize the situation in the city since the steel plant belonging to billionaire Rinat Akhmetov employs fifteen thousand people and is a budget donor. At the same time, the press service of "Pravyi Sektor" said the organization has no connection to the action and does not know what people gathered at the entrance or what they wanted."

 “Podrobnosti” accused the candidate Nataliya Byanova without any evidence: “There are signs that administrative resource is being used for the elections. The head of district administration Nataliya Byanova gathers state employees, principals, teachers, doctors and pressures these people to campaign for the right candidate. We did not find Byanova in the workplace because she left for a business trip immediately after she learned of our arrival”, "The chairmen of almost all regional administrations in Odesa region - including Nataliya Byanova - should leave their posts. And they will leave them. Neither people nor us will let them stay in the positions”. There are no comments of law enforcement representatives, and there is no balance of opinions.

Further in the issue, there are seven openly agitation materials:

“Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”: “Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the leader of “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” believes that Poroshenko has to speak with Putin in Milan only about immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and equipment from the territory of Ukraine.” The same material appeared on STB.

“Opposition Block”: "For 23 years now, the country is never ready for the winter season. And we see that the current government has no plan for winter, except for shutting off the gas, turning off the light, water and everything else. The current government is unable to resolve these issues and practically pushes the local authorities into a corner and pressures all people” (Yuriy Boyko, the leader of the party).

 “Sylna Ukrayina” presented two of its candidates (Tihipko and Khoroshkovskyi) in one issue: "The leader of “Sylna Ukrayina” Tihipko visited Zaporizhya Machine-Building Bureau called “Progress". He looked on the process of creating military products", "External assistance is the only thing that can help avoid default. One-time infusions only help to postpone the problem for a particular period of time. In fact, if we're talking about saving the economy, we have to talk about the systematic approach, the revival of the industry in the first place, freedom of business, and corruption reduction” (the candidate Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi).

"Batkivshchyna": "I saw today that Ukraine is able to raise and educate a generation of strong and professional officers, and basically, create one of the best European armies. It's in our hands. And it will be so" (Yuliya Tymoshenko, the leader of the party).

“Zastup”: “In Kharkiv, “Zastup” helps orphan children from ATO zone. The party gave them warm clothes for the winter”. Yevhen Dihtyar, party’s activist: “There are no clothes for children. Winter is coming, and we don’t know yet what this winter will be like. We greeted children and gave them a lot of warm clothing starting with warm socks to shoes and sport suits."

“Radical Party”: "Radical Oleh Lyashko is in Dnipropetrovsk region. He met with local residents. People complained about the local authorities such as the governor Kolomoyskyi and his deputies.”

Once again, “Opposition Block”: “Opposition Block” demands the President to immediately disarm all paramilitary groups that have no official status. Kyiv is filled with the crowd of angry and armed men. Officials and police ignore it. Oppositionist Vadym Rabynovich directly explains why that happens."

ICTV accuses Kolomoyskyi in some dirty business with Kherson oil plant: "The worst thing is that nobody cares about this. Plant representatives appealed to the president, prime minister, minister of fuel Prodan. In response, there is silence; instead of turning oil into the state’s property, it will be used by some corrupt businessmen. According to the newspaper "Capital”, some media believe that people behind this structure are close to the head of Dnipropetrovsk region Ihor Kolomoyskyi”, “Some media claim that they are being influenced by a different tycoon – Ihor Kolomoyskyi. Vice manager of a particular enterprise ran from the journalists”, “The story about the illegal export of petroleum products in Kherson acquired the continuation in Odesa. For instance, yesterday morning, unknown people in camouflage blocked the exit of Odessa refinery with two buses. The factory has about seventy thousand tons of oil products detained by the state. The company's administration links the appearance of unknown people with the possible raider attack of the same financial and industrial group "Privat", controlled by the head of Dnipropetrovsk region, and this attack may cost hundreds of millions hryvnia." As a tradition, there is no balance in the material.

ICTV uses inappropriate comment of the candidate from "Sylna Ukrayina" Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi concerning the Law on the Prosecutor: "We have a lot of correct laws, but unfortunately, they are not working and until now, we haven’t changed the approach toward personnel policies and punishments for those working in the government and breaking the laws. This is a major problem." Khoroshkovskyi has no relation to the prosecutor's office and is not an influential politician in Ukraine for several years, so his appearance in the materials shows signs of paid news.  “Fakty” also have a suspicious material about “Petro Poroshenko’s Block”: "Little-known politicians deliberately choose symbols, colors and slogans of famous brands. Thus, there is a huge campaign for Viktor Kondratenko on 215th district in Kyiv. On the billboards titled “For Petro Poroshenko’s Block", the candidate urges Ukrainians to unite.” The entire material is based on this fact without a balance of opinions.

 Further in the program, there are 4 more agitations:

"Sylna Ukrayina": “High-tech industries are our ace in the global market, says leader of “Sylna Ukrayina” Serhiy Tihipko  during a trip to the machine-building plant “Progress” that manufactures products needed for the military, aviation and industrial sectors. The politician believes that it is necessary to provide favorable conditions for high-tech industries that use and develop our capacities in high technology instead of advertising Ukraine as a raw land only which is done by the current government." Similar material appeared on STB.

"Opposition Block": "There are no energy resources for winter, says the candidate from “Opposition Block” Yuriy Boyko in Kharkiv during the meeting with representatives of the housing and communal sector. The fact that country is not prepared for the heating season can cause an industrial catastrophe. The politician says that the government has not accumulated the required number of coal and gas. We lack at least five million tons of coal and five billion cubic meters of gas for the heating season" (Yuriy Boyko, one of the leaders of the party).

"Batkivshchyna”: "Yuliya Tymoshenko believes that the Ukrainian government is able to raise a new generation of professional military personnel whose level of education will meet the highest standards of the North Atlantic Alliance."

Petro Poroshenko’s Block: “Vitaliy Klychko’s Foundation gave advanced equipment to the clinic “Okhmatdyt” thanks to which the parents don’t need to take their children abroad for expensive surgery on the spine or the eyes."

"Ukrayina" airs a "revealing" material about a candidate from "Samopomich» Semen Semenchenko: "But the former soldier of the battalion Oleh Dub is positive that combat Semen  Semenchenko is behind the disappearance of Oleksandr Kalashnyk." Then, the channel airs his comment: “The man knew about financial fraud in the battalion “Donbas". Because of that, the man clashed with Semenchenko. My friend survived Ilovaysk. When he returned home, it turned out that the contract was not signed with him. There were six soldiers signed as members of the battalion, but nobody knew them. And he suspected that these six soldiers were the ones receiving his salary and his status." The material does not show Semenchenko’s reply. Further in issue, there are unjustified predictions of “Opposition Block" about the heating season: “The government failed the preparation for the winter season, says one of the leaders of “Opposition Block” Yuriy Boyko. According to him, the country does not have resources for the winter season, and we lack at least five million tons of coal and five billion cubic meters of gas for the heating season". The candidate from “Narodnyi Front” Ostap Semerak was the guest in the studio.

“Sobitiya” does not forget to promote Rinat Akhmetov: "You can get examined after calling the “hot” line at the humanitarian headquarters of Rinat Akhmetov's Foundation. Refugees and women in difficult life situation are the priority. In the future, the fund may expand its work. Mobile women's consultation arrived today to Marіupol to help people, too (Vіktorіya Mykolayuk, the head of the program "Cancer is curable" of Rіnat Akhmetov’s Foundation), “Among the cancers in Ukraine, breast cancer ranks first. Two years ago, Rinat Akhmetov's Foundation purchased a clinic under the program "Cancer is curable." Now, the special vehicle travels to different cities of Ukraine and examines women. Mobile office has received nearly 5000 patients. Every tenth is diagnosed with cancer. But thanks to early detection, women defeat the disease." “Sobitiya” also promoted “Sylna Ukrayina” (Tihipko’s comment) and “Opposition Block” (Vadym Rabynovych).

On October 15, the news had 30 materials with signs of paid news. There were 14 of them on "Inter", 8 on ICTV, 6 on "Ukrayina", and STB and "1+1" each had one. Among the alleged customers, “Opposition Block” is in the first place (7), then, there is “Batkivshchyna” and "Sylna Ukrayina" that each have 4, and Petro Poroshenko’s Block (2). There are two materials against “Samopomich”, and their number will increase later on.

October 16, Thursday

One of the main topics of the day was the increasing pressure of the West on Putin’s regime. TV news also paid attention to the searches in “Ukrainian Railways” (UZ) administration.

“1+1"continues a daily column of negative materials about Oleh Lyashko: “New details of land deals in Kyiv region. TSN correspondent tracked down another 14 acres of land belonging to the radical Oleh Lyashko. Six years ago, he and his family received some land in the village of Nyzhnya Dubechnya and the town of Bucha for free.  The first piece will be returned to the state after the trial, and the second piece is being sold at the moment part by part. Advocates say it is a corrupt scheme and urge prosecutors to investigate it. For details, see the material."As always, the journalists did not even try to be balanced. TSN also had a paid material about ex-deputy from Party of Regions, and now, unaffiliated Oleksandr Onushchenko. The informational cause is worthless since it is the sanctification of the newly constructed church in the village in the Kyiv region. Onyshchenko comments it: “If every village gets a church, there is a place to go to, there is an ability to share, and it is very important for people”.

Meanwhile, "Inter" promotes "Opposition Block". In the material on closing a medical hospital, it used a comment of the candidate Serhiy Larin that has nothing to do with medicine: “Closure of the FAPs - it's just a crime. If there is no FAP, school and contact place in the village, it cannot survive. And the current government does not understand what's going on underneath. Today, it throws millions on the "wall” that should be directed down to where people live. It's just a crime. And this government should lustrate itself and resign." Separately, the program airs the video where Oleksandr Vilkul from “Opposition Block” criticizes the current government. In the material about the conflict over Kherson oil plant, the channel airs the comment of Nestor Shufrych.

“Inter” contradicts “1+1” with regular accusations of Kolomoyskyi: “Ukrnafta" is the state’s company that produces oil and is controlled by the representatives of a financial-industrial group. The other day, Hennadiy Boholyubov and Ihor Kolomoyskyi were re-elected as members of the National Council. A similar situation is in "Ukrtatnafta". It is impossible to change the managing team there because the representatives of the group "Privat" ignore shareholders meeting for years." There is no balance of opinions.

Second day in a row, “Inter” criticizes “Samopomich”: "When three years ago, the residents of Crimean street in Lviv restored the old playground, they had no idea that the swings for the kids would anger the city officials so much. Serhiy was one of those who gave money for the restoration. He shows a pile of documents. This is a correspondence with the Lviv City Council. It turns out that the authorities were going to build a 14-store residential building on this piece over the cliff. This is the true face of self reliance." There is no balance in the material, and there will be no balance in the next videos. It should be noted that «Inter» correspondent Khrystyna Hashenko, who was recently injured at Yavorivsk polygon, was not involved in the preparation of materials against "Samopomich, and other people were involved.

“Inter" helps the candidate from Petro Poroshenko’s Block Vitaliy Chudnovskyi (who is close to the channel’s co-owner Serhiy Liovochkin) with a negative video about his chief opponent in a single-member district Anton Yatsenko. Among other, the material used a positive comment by Mustafa Nayem. The channel does not forget about Boryslav Bereza (another permanent protégé) whose exploits in Troyeshchyna are described in «Podrobnosti” almost every day: "Buckwheat, sugar, butter, and chocolate ... And agitation. It's the food package in 2014. It was handed to people in a residential area of Troyeshchyna. Pravyi Sektor caught the violators doing it.”

Further in the issue, there are 6 paid materials:

“Opposition Block”: "Oppositionist Yuriy Boyko is in Dnipropetrovsk at "Dniprooblenerho." He talks about gas and winter we have to survive. He criticizes the government and says it cares about the wrong things. They only care about the elections, but it's time to think about heating season. Boyko talks about the reforms that the opposition will initiate the first."

 “Batkivshchyna”: “Yuliya Tymoshenko is in Lviv. The leader of “Batkivshchyna” met with the villages’ chairmen and tried to understand what to do for them in the new parliament. They agreed on a village reform." The same material appeared on ICTV.

“Zastup”: “Zastup” did not speak about the village only, but also planted apple trees on the territory of Agrotechnical College in Ternopil region. Then, the party members went to see how the playground is being built. From there, they went to the forum to discuss urgent matters." A similar material appeared on ICTV.

"Sylna Ukrayina": "Tihipko and “Sylna Ukrayina" are at Dnipropetrovsk plant. They spoke about GDP and forecast its fall by 10%. And if the government listens to the party, this is what it suggests the officials to do”, “Another leader of “Sylna Ukrayina” Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi talks about refugees. He asks Rada to think of them. 800 thousand people are already displaced from the Crimea and Donbas."

“Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”: Some high officials who have to be lustrated suddenly chose to go to ATO zone. Obviously, they did it to avoid losing power. I think head of the Security Services and the Attorney General have to check them immediately" (Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the party’s leader).

“Radical Party”: “He sold his car and saw it in ATO. Radical Oleh Lyashko went to Mariupol to help the soldiers. And there, in the battalion “Svyata Mariya”, he saw Range Rover that used to be his”.

ICTV invited Oleksandr Vilkul from “Opposition Block” to the studio. There, he openly criticized the government and campaigned for his political party. In the material about the bribing scheme in Donbas, journalists of “Fakty” used the comment of unaffiliated candidate Serhiy Poyarkov without an actual reason: “The voter-pensioner is robbed 5,000 hryvnia from the beginning. 1200 hryvnia is given to him in the form of pensions, and the stolen difference is periodically given as a miserable pittance. This is the essence of bribing voters. And the voter is the one paying for bribery."

 ICTV also airs a material about the party "Samopomich" that looks like a paid one: "Lviv managed to interest and convince foreign investors. Lviv authorities involved over 100 million of grants and loans from the European funds and governments into the development of urban infrastructure. Over the past 8 years, the city is expanding its scale. Now, Europeans are helping to build the city and roads, save energy, and repair courtyards. Lviv authorities say that European countries allocate multimillion budgets and funds, and banks issue long-term cheap loans to support those who seek to live according to European standards, can work and demonstrates results" and so on. In the material, the channel uses the commentary of Lviv city mayor and the candidate from “Samopomich” Andriy Sadovyi.

ICTV praises Rinat Akhmetov’s charity: "Everything you need for children in ATO zone. Players of FC Shakhtar and humanitarian staff of Rinat Akhmetov’s Fund will be buying and giving milk and cereal mixes as well as other baby food and diapers. There are almost 40000 of little children up to 2 years on ATO territory in Donetsk region. Previously, parents could buy everything they needed in stores, but now, there are very few children's products. Part of the money from the tickets sale of FC Shakhtar is used to treat children who were harmed in ATO and support the families who have lost their parents. 200 000 food packages were given to the residents of Donetsk. 20 000 special children's sets will be distributed in October and November”. “Sobitiya” on “Ukrayina” also showed materials on this topic.

Then, “Fakty” have a series of paid materials:

“Sylna Ukrayina”: “#2 of “Sylna Ukrayina” Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi urges Verkhovna Rada to consider the law about refuges immediately. After all, the refugees from Crimean and ATO zone are in critical conditions. They don’t get pensions and have no social securities. People run out of money, they don’t have a permanent place to stay, and there are 800000 of them in Ukraine, says Khoroshkovskyi. Thus, he urges the parliament to consider the law about refugees.”

"Opposition Block": "Today, one of the main tasks that troubles people the most is the abolition of the pension reform, says Yuriy Boyko. One of the leaders of “Opposition Block” met today with the representatives of Dniprooblenerho in Dnipropetrovsk region. He said that his party will abolish the pension reform in the new parliament and insists on indexing social benefits and inflation. According to Boyko, the first step is to maintain the least protected Ukrainians."

In this issue, “Sobitiya” airs two materials against Ihor Kolomoyskyi:

1)     "Let’s continue. President Poroshenko was asked to make personnel conclusions in regards to Dnipropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi. The reason was the order of Kolomoyskyi’s deputy Hennadiy Korban to destroy all advertising of “Opposition Block” in Dnipropetrovsk region. There are other incidents, too. See for yourself." However, there is no balance of opinions since there are no comments of Kolomoyskyi’s representatives.

2)     "We have information that the deputy governor of Dnipropetrovsk region gave the order to the commander of the battalion “Dnipro” to organize an attack on one of the opposition leaders Oleksandr Vilkul. Thus, the authorities are trying to intimidate members of the opposition and silence those who require the war to end, increase salaries, pensions, and establishment of justice in the country" (Yurіy Boyko, one of the party’s leaders). “Inter” and ICTV air the same accusations.

“Sobitiya” have three more paid materials:

“Batkivshchyna”: “Parliament, Verkhovna Rada, and President’s Administration have to consist of reformers, says Yuliya Tymoshenko (leader of “Batkivshchyna”) at the forum in Kyiv. She believes the new officials have to be elected on a competitive basis."

"Opposition Block": "The leader of “Opposition Block” Yuriy Boyko is satisfied with the resumption of economic relations with Russia. He is positive it will enable saving jobs in enterprises. He said about it during a visit to Krukovo Wagon Plant".

"Radical Party": "Oleh Lyashko presented the project “National Support Center of ATO Participants." According to him, this organization will bring together volunteers, activists of Revolution of Dignity, and soldiers”.

 STB airs paid news in favor of “Sylna Ukrayina”: "Today, we need to think about improving social standards" (Serhiy Tіhіpko), "Khoroshkovskyi states that hryvnia can collapse even more if the National Bank, commercial banks and the IMF don’t agree on creation of reserve funds for the restoration of Donbas. The candidate says that the dollar may increase to cosmic price.” “Vikna” airs a material about Reanimation Reforms’ Package with the signs of paid news:  "This plan consists of changes that were proposed by young civil activists during Euromaidan. Today, experts of the Reanimation Package go to Rada as party members of “Narodnyi Front”, “Petro Poroshenko’s Block”, “Samopomich”, “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”, and “Batkivshchyna”. All the political forces that signed a memorandum agreed to support the reforms of young experts and activists."

On October 16, the news had 33 materials with signs of paid news. There were 13 of them on "Inter", 10 on "Ukrayina", 6 on ICTV, and STB and "1+1" each had two. Among the alleged customers, “Opposition Block” remains the leader (7), then, there is Petro Poroshenko’s Block (3), "Sylna Ukrayina" and Radical Party (2).

October 17, Friday

The main topic of the day for most channels was the military acts in Luhansk region.

"1+1" does not stop its daily attacks against Oleh Lyashko. On this day, there were two negative materials against the leader of Radical Party:

1)     “Oleh Lyashko survived a scrambled attack in Ivano-Frankivsk. In order to meet with his voters, he rented a small aircraft Cessna-560. The aircraft belongs to the company "Business Jet Travel Ltd". This is not the first time the radical uses the company’s services. He does not say the price of his round trip from Kyiv to Ivano-Frankivsk. But according to airport employees, the prices of such flights usually range from 12 to 18 thousand dollars. Ivano-Frankivsk met Lyashko not only with applause, but with criticism since people cried “Shame” and threw eggs at him. Some girls also wanted to give him a pumpkin, but they could not do it since they were stopped by a group of athletic young men in front of the stage."

2)     "Justice is worth fighting for. Irpin City Court returned to state the infamous lands of so-called Bucha Mezhyhirya. Bucha Prosecutors managed to convince the court that the village council had no right to dispose the forest lands. Among the defendants, there were Bucha village council, communist Ruslan Skarboviychuk, grandfather of former Vice Speaker Ihor Kaletnyk, and another 141 people who, starting from 2002, received 10 acres on this construction site. Members of Radical Party received the biggest amount of land, and its leader – Oleh Lyashko and his family - illegally seized nearly two acres of Bucha forest. Friends and relatives of the deputy got the same amount of the land. Bucha activists are very happy about the court’s decision.” Both materials do not present Lyashko’s side.

These days, strange billboards appeared in Ukraine. They said that the citizens of Ukraine had the right to choose the banks they wanted to use to get salaries. On October 17, TSN spoke about this event: “Dmytro FURDAK, correspondent: You were receiving your salaries in “PryvatBank”. Did you have any complaints, problems, and troubles? ". -Woman: "No! I did not have any problems," "It is easy for us to work with Pryvanbank now, and we think that more people will use it soon” (Svitlana Myrnatska, the head of the Department of Labor and Social Policy in Podilsk district administration), “We were really surprised when state’s workers approached us saying that they were forced to create accounts in “Oshchadbank” (Oleh Hanotskyi, director of "Calculations Center of "PryvatBank"). This way, “1+1”, was protecting the commercial interests of its owner whose bank started losing customers through official orders to transfer salary projects of public organizations and institutions to “Oshchadbank".

Meanwhile, “Inter" talks about the alleged raider capture of Odesa refinery plant and uses inappropriate comment of "Opposition Block" candidate from Odesa Mykola Skoryk who accuses the government. Another piece of black PR against Kolomoyskyi’s team was the material about the alleged attempt to kill Vilkul: “Two fragments of phone conversations appeared in the Internet. In the first fragment, the vice governor of Dnipropetrovsk region Hennadiy Korban orders his subordinate Mykola Kolesnyk nicknamed “Tyson” to attack the oppositionist Oleksandr Vilkul. By the way, Tyson is the candidate, too. The commander of National Guard battalion is the one to fulfill Korban’s order”. Also, the channel airs another black PR against “Samopomich” and its leader Andriy Sadovyi. There are two materials on this topic:

1)     People who have seen the video of Sadovyi greeting Yanukovych on his birthday in 2011 have gathered on Rynok square. They held posters: “Sadovyi is hypocrite”, “Traitor”, “Lviv against Sadovyi”. One poster had a picture of Sadovyi among other city mayors surrounding Yanukovych. People were singing the anthem and demanded Sadovyi’s lustration” (before the protest, organized by an unknown party “Hromadskyi rukh Ukrayiny”, “Samopomich” stated that the protest was made specifically for “Inter” – TK).

2)     "We asked the officers of the 80th airmobile brigade whose permanent place of deployment is Lviv whether they had any help from Lviv mayor. The brigade equips the third battalion to ATO zone. They are happy to accept everything from special tablets to shovels. This is what Sadovyi’s self-reliance looks like”, “I am very upset because soldiers from different parts of Ukraine come to us. But then you hear about officials and community giving the soldiers some armor or bulletproof vests. I, too, never heard about Sadovyi’s help.” (Serhiy Nevelychuk, Senior Lieutenant of 80th aeromobіle brigade), “Only after getting help from city deputies not connected to Sadovyi, the guys managed to get registration stamps. For years, hostel residents are unable to make their building a communal ownership. This would allow them to privatize their apartments and register their children. Almost ten years ago, all hostel residents voted for Sadovyi because he promised to do everything. As a result, the building was given to the nearby plant and legalized as additional premise, or the warehouse. "

Next, “Inter” airs its usual paid news digest:

“Opposition Block”: “Almost half Donbas is outside parliamentary elections. There will definitely be no elections in 14out 32 districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. There are doubts concerning three more districts (45, 51, 53), says CEC’s head Mykhaylo Okhendovskyi. And this is how it can be used”.  “This is Donetsk, this is Horlivka, Torez, and Yenakiyevo, says the candidate from “Opposition Block” Serhiy Larin. He continues: “Basically, you take a small piece of territory (5%) with 2-3 thousand residents, and add it to another district outside ATO zone. And then, you have some sort of elections there where a deputy from a single-member district is being elected. In other words, instead of 150 thousand people voting, only 2-3 thousand vote. Soldiers may also vote on that district. This way, the government increases its candidates’ chances to get into the new parliament instead of implementing the order on the territory”.

And again, “Opposition Block”: “Oppositionist Yuriy Boyko is in Poltava region, at Krukovo wagon plant. 6,000 people work there. He says that such enterprises need state’s help, but they are left without contracts”.

“Zastup”: “Zastup” began to give away sheep in Chernivtsi region. The party gave 40 sheep to villagers. Now, they have to take care of the animals and share with their neighbors”.

“Sylna Ukrayina”: “Serhiy Tihipko watched how bread was being baked. He talked with the workers of “Kyivkhlib” about social standards. According to Tihipko, people now try to save money on bread”. “Right now, we have to implement immediate measures to stabilize banking system. It is obvious that we need consensus between the strongest bankers, and also, National bank. I think that one of the ways to do it is through farther capitalization of state funds” (Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, one of the party’s leaders). STB also promotes the party and Khoroshkovskyi.

“Batkivshchyna”: “Yuliya Tymoshenko is at the reformers’ forum in Kyiv. “Batkivshchyna” leader signed the memorandum about cooperation with the movement “Chesno” and initiative “Reanimation Reforms’ Package”. All promise to change something in the country”. The same material appeared on ICTV and STB.

“Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”: “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” talks about taxes. Anatoliy Hrytsenko believes that there are some unnecessary taxes that have to be abolished with more effective ones being implemented”.

For the third time, there is “Opposition Block”: “Nestor Shyfrych is in Mykolayiv. There, the oppositionist wanted to come to the session of the Regional Council. Instead, people yelled and threw eggs at him. “Opposition Block” believes that “Azov” battalion is to blame. Shufrych says that battalions turned into storm troops of the government”.

ICTV airs a paid video about economic plans of “Sylna Ukrayina” with Serhiy Tihipko’s commentary. Then, unaffiliated candidate Serhiy Poyarkov (who was illegally titrated as an “activist and artist”) urges to have honest elections: “If we want to become closer to Europe, we have to have an election campaign without lies and manipulations, accents artist and activist Serhiy Poyarkov. He believes that the elections have to be public because it is the way to break the old system. Deputies have to listen and not to get upset. Activist urged all the candidates not to break the law. He showed an example of the candidate from 91st district in Kyiv printing leaflets without stating its circulations, and provides people with free services. This is against the law. Serhiy Poyarkov urged everyone, especially candidates on single-member districts, not to betray Maydan. He asks the voters to use their intellect, not the emotions”; and then, Poyarkov’s commentary: “The candidates bribe a lot. There is a mass buying in the country with almost all the parties trying to buy voters. The future of your children, grandchildren, and yours is not worth these 500-300 hryvnia”. The channel did not name Poyrkov’s rival mentioned in the material, so he (or she) did not have a chance to respond to the accusation. Later, there is paid material in favor of another deputy from Kyiv, Yaroslav Didenko, portrayed as a fighter to preserve Kyiv architecture.

“Ukrayina” uses comment of Yuriy Boyko from “Opposition Block” in the material about signing the law “About special status”. “Sobitiya” also airs two materials about Rinat Akhmetov saving Donbas with his humanitarian aid. Later, there is another material about successes of his company DTEK.

Next, “Ukrayina” shows its traditional paid news digest:

1)     Material about egg attack on Nestor Shufrych (“Opposition Block”) where the victim accuses “Azov” battalion: “During the incident, we paid attention to the fact that some people were very well prepared, and after the conflict, they sat in the bus and moved to the territory of military base where “Azov” battalion is based. Uncontrollable private military groups rule the country”.

2)     Petro Poroshenko’s Block: there is an unbalanced material about the attack on the headquarters of the party’s candidate Hlib Pryhunov: “Some people tried to explode the office of the candidate from “Petro Poroshenko’s Block” in Kryvyi Rih. Around 2 am, the guard heard a loud explosion and the flash on the surveillance camera at the building’s entrance. Nobody was harmed. Police found some of the remaining weapons used for the explosion. The party representatives consider this incident an attempt to scare the candidate”.

Besides, the candidate from “Petro Poroshenko’s Block” Yuriy Mamchur is the guest in the studio of “Sobitiya”. The program also has paid materials in favor of Oleh Lyashko and “Batkivshchyna”, and there is information about alleged attempt to kill Vilkul.

On October 17, the news had 32 materials with signs of paid news. There were 15 of them on "Inter", 8 on "Ukrayina", 4 on ICTV, "1+1" (3), and STB (2). Among the alleged customers, “Opposition Block” remains the leader (5), then, there are "Sylna Ukrayina" (3), and “Batkivshchyna” (2); more and more materials consist of black PR against some political forces and politicians.

October 18, Saturday

The main topic of the day was the situation in Donbas. Although it was a weekend, the amount of paid news is rather big.

“1+1” airs a material about road reparation near Ordgonikidze with a hidden advertising of the candidate Andriy Shypko: “The road could no longer remain in this condition. That is why I united all of the managers of big enterprises and talked with the workers. We understand that now, there are no finances, and we cannot expect anything. But now, it is dangerous to leave the road this way”. TSN did not forget its daily rubric “Black PR against Lyashko”: “PR on blood. In order to publish its agitation in Pavlohrad, Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party removed the billboard that was maintained by the city residents and contained a picture of the city hero killed in ATO. The politicians did not care about residents bringing flowers to that place and the effects it could bring to the hero’s parents. The place that become well-know to every resident was too attractive to think about moral principles. The story became so resonant that reached out other cities. “Aydar” members who were outraged with radicals’ populism decided to restore justice”.

“Inter” continues promoting Oleksandr Vilkul talking about conflicts in Dnipropetrovsk: “Oppositionists think that the damage to their advertisements was a concrete order. Phone conversation that appeared in the Internet serves as a proof for that. There, vice governor of Dnipropetrovsk region Hennadiy Korban orders governor’s adviser Oleksiy Salkoch”, “Opposition Block” is feared because the party says the truth. “Opposition Block” is feared because it is predicted a second place in the country. In Dnipropetrovsk region, we beat all of the pro-governmental parties that are trying to fight us this way. We will be with people until the end. People support us” (Oleksandr Vilkul, party’s leader). The accusations against Kolomoyskyi are left unanswered in “Podrobnosti”.

“Inter” keeps on talking about the conflict around “Zaporizhstal” and uses the commentary of the candidate from “Opposition Block” Serhiy Kaltsev that can be viewed as a hidden advertising.

“Black PR” against “Samopomich” becomes daily. This day, the party’s leader Andriy Sadovyi is accused in corruption: “Podrobnosti” received an interesting document. It is a report of the City Financial Inspection about misusing funds of the city community. It presents various facts of city officials, or to be more precise, Andriy Sadovyi, bribing local military. The advocate Viktor Charnomskyi explains how, for instance, Lviv police received its cars”, “Sadovyi managed to buy all the police at the expense of Lviv residents” (Anatoliy Semeniuk, the head of the organization “Solidarnist”), “The building of Regional Prosecutor is one of the symbols of specific relations between Sadovyi and those who have to monitor him. The city budget paid 1.5 million hryvnia for the renovation of the building although it contradicted the order from Yushchenko’s times and anticorruption law from Yanukovych’s times. The entrance was decorated with a stained glass that cost 10 thousand dollars per square meter. Now, shields have replaced it. Lviv residents smashed the stained glass during the "Night of Wrath" at the end of February this year. With the mayor’s "self reliance", that "Night of Wrath" may not be the last one”.

For the second time on “Inter”, there is a black PR against Anton Yatsenko, the rival of the candidate from “Petro Poroshenko’s Block” Vitaliy Chudnovskyi who is close to Lyovochkin: “People regard Anton Yatsenko to be a godfather of tender mafia. For a long time, he headed a profile committee in the government and became the central character of famous journalists’ investigations about corruption and budget money laundering. Uman journalist Herman Rahkmatulin knows well why Yatsenko needs a mandate”. There is no balance in the material.

“Inter” has seven more paid materials:

“Opposition Block”: “Opposition Block” has a plan to restore Donbas. It will be presented on Monday. The party proposes to restore the damaged economy, abolish the pension reform, and index pensions and salaries”.

“Hromadyanska Pozytsiya”: “Anatoliy Hrytsenko talks about Donbas’ special status”. “This law was pushed into the parliament with the black board and in closed regime. And it will not work. First of all, it was signed in Kremlin and goes against Ukraine’s interests. Second of all, Verkhovna Rada has to pass an additional law to determine the bounds of this special status” (Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the party’s leader).

“Sylna Ukrayina”: “Svitlana Fabrykant from “Sylna Ukrayina” is positive that we have to count the government’s debts and monitor all the credits”.

“Batkivshchyna”: “Yuliya Tymoshenko visited the villages of Khmelnytskyi region. She talked about Kremlin propaganda on the West and complained about diplomats doing little promotion of Ukraine in Europe”. ICTV showed a similar video.

“Radical Party”: “The attack after the “Black mirror”. In the night, unknown people attacked the documentary director and the candidate from Radical Party Mark Hres. As a result, Hres has a deep cut on his chest”. “I can imagine that it was ordered after the broadcast of “Black mirror". Absolutely. We have a block directly connected with Semenchenko. I mentioned the general Khomchak, I mentioned Semenchenko, I mentioned Mr. Kolomoyskyi. And, in the end, I asked Lviv mayor Sadovyi not the most pleasant questions. I do not think they wanted to kill me. It was rather an act of intimidation" (Mark Hres, the candidate from “Radical Party”). This material also has unlawful accusations against the candidates from “Samopomich” Semen Semenchenko and Andriy Sadovyi. Hres’ comment also appeared on "Ukrayina". First National, instead, presented this information impartially.

“Pravyi Sektor”: “Bereza planted birches and other trees in the park on Troyeschyna. Volunteers from ‘Pravyi Sektor” who just came back from ATO planted trees alongside locals. Now, there will be an entire alley dedicated to fighters, says Boryslav Bereza”. The same material appeared on ICTV.

 And again, “Opposition Block”: “Opposition Block” is against changing any laws before the elections. It is against the Constitution and all international norms”. Serhiy Larin demands: “We ask, we demand the President to guarantee honest and transparent elections everywhere in Ukraine, especially on the territories of the conflict such as Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He has to involve Security Services and regular army to guarantee order and get rid of illegal military groups who threaten commission members and try to disrupt the elections or falsify them. This has to be done to choose people who represent the interests of all Ukraine’s citizens”.

“Ukrayina” invited “Opposition Block” leader Oleksandr Vilkul to the studio. There, he blamed and accused the government and also, agitated for his party: “Instead of restarting the economy, the government fights with the opposition. They do it because “Opposition Block” says the truth and has the program of actions instead of empty military rhetoric, and because “Opposition Block” is predicted to take a second place in the elections, and it leads in industrial regions such as Zaporizhya, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa. The government is hysterical about it. A huge amount of advertising billboards was destroyed, agitators are being beaten. Some were driven to the cemeteries and threatened to stay there forever if they keep on working with the opposition. Mass falsifications are being prepared!”

The program has a material about “Opposition Block”: “Opposition is against passing new laws before the elections, says one of the party’s leaders Serhiy Larin. According to him, deputies want to change the law on elections on Monday. The politician stated that none of the democratic countries would ever change its laws in such a short time before the elections”.

There is hidden advertising of “Batkivshchyna”: “Ukraine has to fight Russian propaganda, says “Batkivshchyna” leader Yuliya Tymoshenko. She suggests sending a team of diplomats, journalists, activists, and politicians into every European country. These people will use Western media to inform Europeans about events in Ukraine. Yuliya Tymoshenko is also worried about the implementation of administrative reform within Ukraine”. As a tradition, “Sobitiya” aired two materials about Rinat Akhmetov’s charity.

On October 18, the news had 19 materials with signs of paid news. There were 9 of them on "Inter", and "1+1" and ICTV each had 2. Among the alleged customers, “Opposition Block” remains the leader (5), then, there are "Sylna Ukrayina" (2), and “Batkivshchyna” (2); and “Pravyi Sektor”, “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” and Radical Party also pay for news. “Inter” keeps on attacking “Samopomich”.

Conclusions

In general, the channels had 171 paid materials during a week. It’s much more than in the previous week (129).

The undisputed anti-leader of paid news is "Inter" with 76 videos during a week. Then, there are "Ukrayina" (44), ICTV (27), "1+1" (13), and STB (9).

News on 5th Channel and First National remain clean, but the violations we spotted this week indicate that these channels need to strengthen their vigilance.

Also, among political forces, “Opposition Block” remains an undisputed anti-leader with the biggest amount of paid materials (36). Then, there are “Sylna Ukrayina” (16), “Batkivshchyna” (14), “Petro Poroshenko’s Block” (8), Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party (6), “Zastup” (3), “Hromadyanska Pozytsiya” (3). For the first time, we spotted the paid materials in favor of “Samopomich” (2).

Many paid materials aimed to discredit political opponents such as Oleh Lyashko and Radical Party, Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s team, and the party “Samopomich”. “Inter” and “1+1” are the most active “fighters”, and sometimes, “Ukrayina” and ICTV get involved in this fight, too. STB, 5th Channel and First National are free from black PR.

Monitoring of compliance with professional standards in the information services of Ukrainian TV channels was carried by NGO "Telekritika" as a part of the project “Strengthening informational society in Ukraine” supported by Council of Europe. The purpose of monitoring is to increase media literacy of Ukrainian society, motivate media to be just and responsible, respect professional standards, and improve the quality of media products.

            Monitoring is an independent expert assessment of the NGO "Telekritika." All conclusions and opinions expressed in all monitoring publications may not necessarily reflect the views of Council of Europe.