Max Nazarov, a former host of shuttered pro-Russian news channels, was taken into custody on suspicions of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda, Suspilne reported on Jan. 21, citing a court ruling.
Nazarov has been sent to custody for 60 days pending trial, with an alternative of bail of Hr 12 million ($285,000).
Nazarov, whose real name is Nazar Diorditsa, previously worked as a news presenter at the Nash and NewsOne television channels, both of which were considered among the leading pro-Russian news outlets in Ukraine.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced charges against Nazarov after searches of his home on Jan. 18, saying that "large-scale evidence" and "conclusions from independent experts" point to the news host's "anti-Ukrainian activities."
After the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, Nazarov regularly invited pro-Russian guests to his own YouTube channel show and used the discussions to justify Russian aggression and war crimes, the SBU said.
Nazarov claimed on his Telegram channel that he bears no responsibility for the words of the guests he interviewed.
Nash was owned by Yevheniy Muraiev, a wanted pro-Russian politician who fled the country after the full-scale invasion began and recently resurfaced in China. Ukraine sanctioned Nash in February 2022, leading to its closure.
Shortly before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the U.K. Foreign Office warned that the Kremlin intends to install Muraiev as the head of the Russian puppet regime in Kyiv.
NewsOne was also formerly owned by Muraiev but later became part of the unofficial media empire of pro-Russian politician and former lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, who lives in exile in Russia after being released from Ukrainian custody in a prisoner exchange in 2022.
The news channel was banned in 2021 amid a broader crackdown on Medvedchuk's media operations, which were accused of promoting pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian narratives.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
