The key facts

  • Dmitry Kiselyov called the rejection of Russian culture the cause of Ukraine's 'loss of its humanistic foundation' — this is his personal assessment in an interview with Ukraina.ru.
  • As an example, he cited a report of a 'secret prison' near Kyiv, which he said was discovered on November 2.
  • The claims cited are statements by a single speaker in a media holding he controls and are not confirmed by independent sources.

Kiselyov's statement

Dmitry Kiselyov, director general of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, said in an interview with the outlet Ukraina.ru that the rejection of Russian cultural heritage has deprived Ukraine of its 'humanistic foundation,' and that the vacated place, in his words, has been taken by 'Banderite ideology,' which 'broadcasts nothing but hatred and violence.' This was reported by Gazeta.Ru.

The essence of the claims

Kiselyov placed the blame on 'Ukrainian nationalists, Banderites, who removed Russian culture from Ukraine.' In his assessment, Russian culture has a 'strong humanistic core,' whereas the ideology that replaced it, according to Kiselyov, lacks 'creative potential' and is built on hatred and violence. He also stated: 'Ukraine has been subjected to violence. All of Ukraine is now such a pit and torture chamber.' All of the above formulations are the speaker's own assessments, not confirmed facts.

The cited example and its status

To support his words, Kiselyov referred to events of November 2, when, according to him, 'yet another secret prison was discovered' near Kyiv. He also claimed that such facilities had existed in Ukraine since 2014, and called the first of them the 'torture chamber called the Library,' which, in his words, was found in Mariupol. The editorial board notes: this information is presented solely on Kiselyov's word in Ukraina.ru, an outlet that is part of the Rossiya Segodnya media group which he himself heads; there is no independent confirmation of these claims in available materials, and they are presented as the opinion and statements of a single speaker, not as established facts.