Since 8 March, Belsat TV has been broadcasting daily newscasts in Ukrainian. Until now, the station’s viewers could watch the news in Belarusian and Russian. The decision to expand the program offer responds to the situation in Ukraine, where due to the war, the inhabitants have increasingly limited access to current information.
The news in Ukrainian will be broadcast at 20:00 Kyiv time (19:00 Warsaw time). The first editions will be hosted by Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Ovcharova, who previously worked at Belsat’s Russian-language news service “Vot Tak.” For the time being, one news program in Ukrainian is planned daily.
“The number of materials in Ukrainian will probably have to be increased over time. Especially if Russian troops prevent our Ukrainian colleagues from working,” said Belsat deputy director Alyaksei Dzikavitski.
Since 24 February, the day the war broke out in Ukraine, Belsat has changed its schedule to provide as much information as possible on the events in that country. In the first days of the conflict, the studio in Warsaw broadcast several hours of live information blocks. Since 2 March, after the Russian bombing of TV towers in Kyiv, the station has also been rebroadcasting the programs of Ukrainian channels broadcasting together.
“Should the hostilities cause even complete paralysis of the Ukrainian media and Internet, there remains Belsat, which can also be received from the satellite. This means that Belsat cannot be switched off on Ukrainian territory”, adds Dzikavitski.
Belsat TV is a part of TVP S.A. It began broadcasting in 2007 for a Belarusian audience and in the Belarusian language. In 2017, the news service “Vot Tak” went on air, targeting Russian-speaking viewers across the post-Soviet space. In addition, the station has two websites – belsat.eu. It features news and analytics in Belarusian, Russian, Polish, and English. There’s also a separate service vot-tak.tv for Russian-speaking readers outside Belarus. The station is present on major social networks and on the YouTube platform, where the total number of subscriptions is approaching 1.3 million. In recent days, it has seen a significant increase in the number of viewers from Ukraine and Russia.
belsat.eu
