The US Department of State is ready to pay $150,000 dollars to the Ukrainian organisation which will be creating material with clear Russophobic content. This is evidenced by the tender, which was published by the press service of the US Embassy in Ukraine. According to the document, Washington is ready to pay a relatively large amount of money for the creation of propaganda films. At the same time, the US Embassy in Kyiv does not hide that the goal of the project is the formation of anti-Russian sentiments. This is also evidenced by the fact that the Russian Federation is called an “enemy” state in the text.
Summary
Sputnik Latvia regularly talks about discrimination against Russian media in the Baltic countries. Since January 1, Estonia has actually banned the work of the Sputnik editorial office in Tallinn, threatening employees with criminal prosecution. In Latvia, Sputnik employees are also pressured not only in the form of “conversations” with representatives of the special services, but also through an informal ban on opening bank accounts for them. This (ban on broadcasting of RT) is another case of violation of freedom of speech and freedom of information. The decision to ban RT in Latvia on the basis of false information is an indicator of the stupidity of the Latvian authorities blinded by Russophobia.
Disproof
This claim tries to portray EU sanctions on Russia, the result of its illegal actions in Ukraine, as unfair persecution against Sputnik and its employees, and against media freedom in general. In all of the mentioned countries Sputnik and RT are being accused of spreading disinformation, violating copyrights, acting as a propaganda instrument.
In Estonia, Sputnik is wrongly represented as a victim of unprecedented persecution. This kind of statements were debunked several times. Read here. The steps taken by Estonia are based on the Article 2 of the Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine that foresees freezing the assets of Dmitry Kiselyov, the Director-General of Rossija Segodnya.
Lithuania is falsely claimed to follow totalitarian laws, while Sputnik fights against intolerance. This came as in mid-2019 a court in Vilnius ruled on blocking Sputnik Lithuania over copyright issues. Broadcasting service (LRT) approached the Radio and Telecommunications Committee and pointed out in a statement that Sputnik had illegally used LRT materials at least 1464 times in violation of copyrights. Lithuanian Sputnik had continued to distribute illegal material and had not reacted to repeated requests by the National Broadcasting service to stop the abuse of copyright infringement.
In Latvia, in 2016, Latvia's domain registry shut the website of Sputnik Latvia after receiving a letter of concern from the Latvian Foreign Ministry, which drew attention to Sputnik's coverage of Ukraine and routine denial of the embattled nation's territorial integrity. In July 2019, Latvian authorities blocked access to the online portal baltnews.lv, owned by Rossiya Segodnya, citing EU sanctions against Russia. In 2020 Latvia has banned the state-owned Russian television channel RT, saying it is controlled by an individual - Dmitriy Kiselyov, who is under EU sanctions. According to the Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), Latvia's national media watchdog, RT and the network of channels operated by it are under Kiselyov's "effective control" and has attempted to present Latvia as a failed state. Similar cases about Sputnik Estonia, claiming that High rating given to Estonia by “Reporters without borders” is fiction, that When it comes to Russia, Europe does not adhere to values, or There is no freedom of speech in Estonia, but an absolute censorship. More cases can be found here.