Armed men tuning Russian channels - Kramatorsk broadcaster
KYIV. April 17 (Interfax) - Armed men are installing satellite equipment on the grounds of the radio and television broadcasting company (KRRT) in Kramatorsk to ensure reception of Russian channels, while switching off Ukrainian ones; there are no police on the grounds, KRRT spokesperson Pavlo Belonozhko told Interfax.
The armed men are bringing in their own equipment and setting it up to enable the reception of Russian channels while switching off transmitters sending the analog signal of Ukrainian television channels, he said.
At the same time, it is more difficult to switch off a digital signal because it is encrypted, Belonozhko said. However, the people who seized the KRRT facilities are receiving access codes from their sources and can start switching off the digital transmitters too, he said.
By 5 p.m. there had been no police on the company grounds, the spokesman said.
Earlier reports said that KRRT chief Konstyantyn Zakharenko wrote to inform the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection that ten gunmen entered the KRRT facilities in Kramatorsk at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, massed along the perimeter and gained access to the equipment.