This became known from the Cabinet's petition site.
The author of the appeal, Natalia Yakovleva, points out that due to the tragic events in their lives, such as the war in Ukraine, people in despair are turning to psychics in search of answers to their questions and are spending their last money on such services.
She also notes that many of these psychics either have a hidden or open pro-Russian stance, do not pay taxes, and “inflict significant psychological and financial harm on people already traumatized by the war.”
“Currently, well-known Ukrainian TV channels often invite many famous psychics and other representatives of mystical teachings to participate in news broadcasts or appear in telethons to predict the war, perform tarot readings, and share their ‘predictions’ about the upcoming developments on the front or the enemy's shelling of Ukrainian cities.”
“Particularly dangerous are the psychics with a Russian background invited to news broadcasts, as they subtly insert dangerous pro-Russian messages and narratives that destructively affect the consciousness of Ukrainians,” the petition text states.
The author of the appeal also emphasized that since the telethon is funded by the state budget, it is unacceptable that “with the money of Ukrainians, they are being fed outright pseudoscientific nonsense from psychics on TV screens.”
In 2024, more than 1.5 billion hryvnias will be allocated from the state budget for the telethon and broadcasting of Ukraine directed towards it.
In December 2023, a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed that trust in the telethon “Unified News” continues to decline.
Already, an August sociological study conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in collaboration with the Razumkov Centre’s sociological service indicates that about half of the respondents do not consider the telethon relevant.
Back in April, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, stated that “Unified News” would have to be discontinued if they do not change their format within 2024.
The international human rights organization “Reporters Without Borders” (RSF) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) called on the Ukrainian authorities to reconsider the format of the telethon, labeling it ineffective.