Supporting Ukraine: Questions and Answers

You can contact the EU in Ukrainian or Russian by writing to us using the form on our website, calling us (in any EU language, Ukrainian or Russian) on 00 800 67 89 10 11, or visiting a local office.

We strongly condemn the cyber-attacks against the Ukrainian government, entities and critical sectors. These cyber-attacks are an integral part of the ongoing aggression against Ukraine to undermine its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. These attacks seek to destabilise Ukraine and could potentially have spill-over effects to other countries, including EU Member States.

Ukraine has reacted quickly to these attacks. The EU is working closely with the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen resilience against hybrid threats, such as cyber resilience and countering disinformation.

We provide capacity building and operational resilience support to main cyber interlocutors in Ukraine, including in the field of cyber defence. A cyber dialogue was set up last year. 

We will remain vigilant about cyber-attacks or possible spill-over effects into European systems. If necessary, we will take swift and adequate measures in response to Russia's actions in cyberspace, including through the cyber diplomacy toolbox and its cyber sanctions regime.

If you are interested to join European networks, we invite you to get in touch with likeminded organisations across Europe and see whether they are interested to apply for the Creative Europe programme. Creative Europe strengthens cultural & creative sectors through collaboration, and since 2021 Ukraine is part of the programme family (details here).

None of the calls focuses on cultural journalism, yet you might be interested as there are calls in support of cultural collaboration, support to democracy/news media , or a cross-over between culture and media.

Normally this type of info is provided by the Ukrainian Creative Europe Desk (creativeeurope.in.ua@gmail.com). The European Commission cannot play any role in finding partner organisations, but the Desks can. We therefore also recommend you to contact the Desk directly.

The single European emergency number ‘112’ ensures that callers of the number are located and their emergency is handled in due respect of their privacy. We would advise to contact the national regulatory authorities in member states, especially those neighbouring Ukraine to find the optimal solution for assisting refugees:

Poland: https://www.uke.gov.pl/en/contact/
Slovakia: https://www.teleoff.gov.sk/contact/
Hungary: https://english.nmhh.hu/the-nmhh
Romania: https://www.ancom.ro/en/contact_4513

Member states deployed the 116 000 number – the missing children hotline – a service that handles missing children related issues.

Some European telecom operators took voluntary initiatives on the first day of the crisis to facilitate connectivity for refugees from Ukraine.

For example, millions of free SIM cards have already been distributed to refugees crossing the borders and many operators offered free calls to Ukraine. Free WIFI hotspots have also been provided in border areas.

To ensure widespread affordable communications for refugees from Ukraine for as long as necessary, the Commission facilitated a coordinated approach to ensure sustainability of the voluntary measures, whereby both EU and Ukrainian operators would agree to lower the charges operators pay each other enabling free or very affordable offers for refugees. The Commission has been working closely with EU Telecom Regulators and Ukrainian authorities to this effect.

As a results of this joint efforts, telecom operators based in the EU and in Ukraine have ensured a timely solution and signed on 8 April a Joint Statement committing to put in place or continue affordable or free roaming and international calls between the EU and Ukraine coupled with the related actions at wholesale level. This was strengthened in July 2022.

As a result of these voluntary measures, all 3 UA operators are currently providing free roaming for refugees in nearly all Member States and EU operators are providing offers with free or affordable international calls to Ukraine. These actions have already made a real difference on the ground, providing tangible help to many refugees.

The EU has adopted sanctions against the Kremlin's disinformation and information manipulation assets. It decided to suspend the distribution of state-owned disinformation outlets Russia Today and Sputnik across the EU in March 2022. The sanctions cover all means of transmission and distribution, such as via cable, satellite, IPTV, platforms, websites and apps. All relevant licences, authorisations and distribution arrangements are suspended. These measures cover all EU countries and are directly applicable immediately.

Both outlets are part of a coordinated information manipulation effort, including disinformation, as documented since 2015 by the European External Action Service's East StratCom Task Force.

This flagship project called EUvsDisinfo was launched to better forecast, address, and respond to the Russian Federation’s ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighbourhood.

EUvsDisinfo’s core objective is to increase public awareness and understanding of the Kremlin’s disinformation operations, and to help citizens in Europe and beyond develop resistance to digital information and media manipulation.

Using data analysis and media monitoring services in 15 languages, EUvsDisinfo identifies, compiles, and exposes disinformation cases originating in the pro-Kremlin media that are spread across the EU and Eastern Partnership countries. These cases (and their disproofs) are collected in the EUvsDisinfo database – the only searchable, open-source repository of its kind – which currently comprises over 12,000 samples of pro-Kremlin disinformation. The database is updated every week, together with a brief trend summary.

The transmission and broadcasting in or directed at the EU from these outlets has been suspended since 2 March 2022.

This is an exceptional, targeted and temporary measure, taken in a very specific, unprecedented context. The sanctions cover all means for transmission and distribution, such as via cable, satellite, IPTV, platforms, websites and apps. All relevant licences, authorisations and distribution arrangements are suspended. These measures are covering all EU Member States and are directly applicable immediately.

The transmission and broadcasting activities in or directed at the EU from these outlets has been suspended since the 4 June 2022.

This is an exceptional, targeted and temporary measure, taken in a very specific, unprecedented context. The sanctions cover all means for transmission and distribution, such as via cable, satellite, IPTV, platforms, websites and apps. All relevant licences, authorisations and distribution arrangements are suspended. These measures are covering all EU Member States and are directly applicable immediately.

Yes. The field of application of this provision goes beyond the mere broadcasting of TV stations. The term ‘broadcast’ in conjunction with ‘any content’ is to be understood, in light of the objective of the provision, as covering a broader range of content provision than the term ‘television broadcasting’ used in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

It should be understood as transmitting, disseminating or distributing any type of content in the broadest possible meaning (long videos, short video extracts, news items, radio etc.) to an audience regardless of the means of transmission, dissemination or distribution (including online). The terms ‘facilitate or otherwise contribute to’ are meant to also cover the activities that serve or are instrumental for the transmission, dissemination or distribution of content provided by the targeted entities to other media outlets.

Furthermore, by virtue of the non-circumvention clause (laid down in Article 12) it is prohibited to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent prohibitions in this Regulation including by acting as a substitute for natural or legal persons, entities or bodies targeted by the Regulation.

The entity that registers a domain has control over the subdomains; if the domain is blocked, its subdomains should be blocked as well. The prohibition laid down in the Regulation also applies to newly created Internet domains that are in substance run or controlled by the targeted entities or used to circumvent the prohibition at issue. 

This is an exceptional, targeted and temporary measure, taken in a very specific, unprecedented context.

Please note that there is a fundamental difference between censorship – and sanctions. The value the freedom of expression is of paramount importance for this. This is not about opinions being censored. We look at the instruments that are being used in a systematic and coordinated manner in this war. State sponsored propaganda and disinformation spread by Russia Today and Sputnik are an essential and instrumental tool in bringing forward and supporting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This constitutes a significant and direct threat to the EU’s public order and security. In view of the gravity of the situation, and in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, it was necessary – and consistent with fundamental rights and freedoms – to suspend the activities of Russia Today and Sputnik in the European Union.

Both outlets are part of a coordinated information manipulation effort by the Russian leadership, including disinformation, as documented since 2015 by the European External Action Service’s East StratCom Task Force.

It will be for economic operators to take the necessary measures for these activities to cease in practical terms, and for Member States to enforce the sanctions. As always for these kinds of measures, it is for Member States to lay down the rules on penalties. These penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

The Commission is also in constant contact with national regulators to ensure that operators under their jurisdiction remove RT and Sputnik from their offers. In addition, we are reaching out to relevant stakeholders in order to ensure swift compliance with the new measure.

You can report the content directly on YouTube. The Commission has introduced measures to suspend the activities of certain outlets, which you can read more about here.

The Regulation sets out a number of examples of activities (‘such as’), so it also applies to, for instance, caching services, search engines, social media or hosting service providers whose services can be used to disseminate propaganda from the targeted entities.

Media have the freedom to report objectively on current events and to form their opinions thereon, and users have the right to receive objective information on current events. In particular, where a media outlet other than Russia Today and Sputnik reports about the current Regulation and it consequences, it may inter alia provide the content and in that regard it may refer to pieces of news by Russia Today and Sputnik, in order to illustrate the type of information given by the two Russian media outlets concerned with a view to informing their readers/viewers objectively and completely. 

At the same time, freedom of speech can be restricted for legitimate public interests in a proportionate manner. Freedom of speech cannot be relied on by other media outlets to circumvent the Regulation. The non-circumvention equally applies to journalists. Therefore, if another media outlet or journalist purports to inform its readers/viewers, but in reality its conduct aims at broadcasting Russia Today or Sputnik content to the public or has that effect, it will be in breach of the prohibition laid down in the Regulation.

The Regulation sets out a broad and comprehensive prohibition. The Regulation prohibits both the broadcasting (lato sensu) and the fact that operators “enable, facilitate or otherwise contribute to broadcast”. Accordingly, the prohibition applies to any person or entity or body exercising a commercial or professional activity that broadcasts or enables, facilitates or otherwise contributes to broadcast the content at issue. 

Furthermore, by virtue of the general and broadly couched non-circumvention clause in Article 12 of Regulation 833/2014, it is prohibited to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibition at issue, including by acting as a substitute for a natural or legal person, entity or body subject to the prohibition in Article 2f of the Regulation.  The operators cannot shield themselves from the obligations under the Regulation 833/2014 by invoking other provisions of secondary EU law such as Article 15 e-commerce Directive.