State-owned TV accuses administration of pressure

The host of the talk show “Countdown” on state-owned
UA:Pershyi, Myroslava Barchuk, stated on air on Oct. 19 that her show was
facing pressure from the Office of the President (OP). Barchuk claimed that the
OP had managed the appearance of MPs from the presidential Servant of the
People party who came to the show for quite some time. However, the OP recently
began stipulating how many MPs could show up, and who these people were, and
with whom they could not share the stage, pravda.com.ua reported on Oct. 19.

Barchuk stated that the program refused to bow to such
pressure. She also called it a ‘first bell’ in the threat to independent
journalism, and drew parallels to the pressure on journalists during the Yanukovych
presidency.

James Hydzik: While the US has pledged its support to Ukraine in terms of preparing
for NATO accession, that was literally support to Ukraine and does not equate
to support for the Zelensky administration in particular. Barchuk’s references
to the Yanukovych era are likely to raise ire and not awareness within the OP.
With Zelensky’s popularity dropping, this kind of accusation could resonate
among some of his former supporters and make it harder for him to recover.