OREANDA-NEWS. November 14, 2008. Question: The Ukrainian Security Service has prevented the showing of the internet movie “War 08/08/08. The Art of Betrayal” in Kyiv that tells about Ukraine’s involvement in the events in Caucasus, according to media reports. How could you comment upon this?

Answer: Such prohibitive, restrictive actions hardly fit into the universally accepted norms and concepts of democracy, freedom of speech, and media independence.

Whereas the justificatory statement of the Ukrainian Security Service that the movie was based on “the untruthful and trumped-up allegations of a Russian internet publication,” as well as the claims of Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry against the Russian embassy in Kyiv are simply groundless. The movie brings together impartial facts and evidences of Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and of large-scale supplies of Ukrainian offensive arms to the Georgian army.

By the way, these facts are not being disputed by many competent experts, international organizations, foreign media and responsible politicians in a whole array of countries today.

The point, apparently, is that Ukrainian authorities seek, under all manner of pretexts, to conceal the truth about the real events surrounding South Ossetia and the participation of the Ukrainian side in them.

Such actions cannot be justified and are profoundly deplorable.