Crimean truth

Under the name “Tavricheskaya Pravda”, the newspaper first appeared on February 6 (January 24, old style) in Sevastopol ^[2] , the last issue of this name was published on April 29, 1918 ^[3] . The editorial board included Dmitry Ulyanov , Yuri Gaven , Vladislav Kobylyansky ^[4] .

Since November 17, 1920, the newspaper was published under the name "Red Crimea", the first issue was published in Simferopol ^[3] . The chief editor was P.I. Novitsky . In the 1930s, the circulation of the newspaper reached twenty thousand copies.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, the newspaper was located in the apartment building of Friedrich Pope (modern Karl Marx Street , 6) ^[5] .

During the Great Patriotic War, the newspaper continued to be published. Since April 14, 1942, the editorial staff moved to Kerch . After the defeat of Soviet troops in Crimea, the editorial staff was evacuated to the North Caucasus ^[3] . In 1943, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Yevgeny Stepanov, the artist Emanuel Grabovetsky and the printing worker Seva Laganbashev were sent to a partisan detachment , where they launched the production of leaflets. In April 1944, the newspaper returned to Crimea with the advancing Soviet troops ^[3] . In reminder of the newspaper’s work during the war years, N. Bout ’s painting “Partisan Bread” hangs in the office of the chief editor. ^[6]

Since January 18, 1952, the newspaper received the name "Crimean Truth" ^[3] . In 1963, V. A. Bobashinsky became the deputy editor-in-chief, and in 1965, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, who headed it 30 years before 1995, and then worked for another 11 years as deputy chief editor ^[1] . In 1978, the daily circulation of the newspaper amounted to 260 thousand copies.

Until 1991, the newspaper was the printed organ of the provincial, regional, and then the republican committee of the Communist Party , after which it became a socio-political independent newspaper ^[7] . The newspaper took a pro-Russian position, criticizing the actions of the Ukrainian government ^[8] .

In 2006-2010, the chief editor was K. M. Bakharev ^[1] . On March 1, 2007, the first full-color issue was released. For 2015, the newspaper is published 5 times a week with a circulation of more than 30 thousand copies ^[3] .

The editors of "Crimean Truth" since 1991 occupied a pro-Russian position. The newspaper itself positioned itself as an "independent Russian newspaper of Ukraine." The newspaper was the mouthpiece of the Republican movement of Crimea (leader - Yuri Meshkov ) ^[9] . Journalists opposed the Orange Revolution (2004-2004), Euromaidan (2013-2014) and supported the annexation of Crimea to Russia (2014) ^{[10] [11] [12]} .

The newspaper was criticized many times for publications inciting ethnic hatred, the use of hate speech , for anti-Ukrainian , anti-Tatar and anti-Islamic materials ^{[13] [14]} . The publication used such expressions as " Ukrainians " and " Poles " ^[15] .

In 1997, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Pavel Movchan appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Valery Pustovoitenko demanding to stop the publication of “Crimean Truth” because of the article “Ukrainian separatism”. Movchan called the newspaper pro-communist, pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian ^[16] .

In 1998, after a statement by the editor-in-chief Mikhail Bakharev that “the Ukrainian language is a black language ”, the prosecutor's office issued warnings about the inadmissibility of such statements ^[17] . In 2001, Bakharev, in an article “We Will Get Back to You, Motherland!” Stated that Ukrainians do not exist, Ukrainians are part of the Russian people and speak a dialect of the Russian language ^[18] . In this regard, a lawsuit was filed against him in the court of the Central District of Simferopol by the Crimean Organization of the UPR with the demand to print a refutation of this information in the newspaper ^[17] .

The editors of Crimean Truth supported the candidacy of Valery Yermak in the election of the mayor of Simferopol in 2002 ^[19] .

Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea Ilmi Umerov in 2004 accused the Crimean Truth of manipulating public opinion and inciting ethnic hatred ^[20] . Also, in 2004, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics stated that this publication does not comply with the code of ethics of a Ukrainian journalist for publishing articles “ Mejlisites — answer!”, “Be Vigilant, Slavs!” “Ukrainians and Little Russians.” The commission accused the editors of inciting ethnic hatred, giving opinions as facts, the absence of a different point of view and balance of information ^[21] .

In the 2005 OSCE Human Rights Report, Crimean Truth was criticized for its anti-Tatar articles, “Terrorists of the Mejlis commit atrocities and Crimean authorities are inactive,” “There is no one to protect the people,” “ Stalin deserves thanks and Crimean Tatars” ^[22] . In 2006, the Crimean Svetlitsa publication accused the Crimean Truth of chauvinism for the article “Ukraine is not Russia, Ukraine is a disease” ^[23] .

An article by Natalia Astakhova “Brought by the Wind” (2008) has been criticized for its anti-Tatar and anti-Islamic position. Astakhova writes in relation to the Crimean Tatars: “ Tell me, please, is there anything left in this unfortunate Crimea, muzzled by you, that you would not abuse? Earth, sea, wine, mountains, orchards, vineyards, cities, villages - everything is covered by a web of your claims, everything is either ruined, plundered, or doused with the impurities of your thoughts. Only the sky remains. And then the cry of the muezzin enters into him, blocking all other sounds of a previously peaceful life ” ^{[24] [25] [26] [27]} . In 2010, a lawsuit took place on the suit of the public organization “Bizim Kırym” against Astakhova about the refutation of information in her article. The Central District Court of Simferopol refused to satisfy the claim against Natalya Astakhova ^[28] .

Two weeks later, after the publication of Astakhova’s article, journalist Yulia Verbitskaya published an article “In the Banderlog den”, where she stated that “ Galicia and Crimea have little in common ” ^[29] . In 2008, Russian political analyst Andrei Okara gave Verbitskaya an interview about the consequences of the Kosovo conflict , which ultimately did not appear on the pages of the publication ^[30] .

In February 2013, the Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Freedom party, Eduard Leonov, appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka , after the publication of the materials “You Can’t Cook porridge with Ukrainians” (on the allocation of land to Crimean Tatars) and “Inglourious Basterds Live Better than Heroes” (on benefits for UPA veterans), demanding that they take measures to bring those responsible to justice and stop the manifestations of “Ukrainian independence and inciting ethnic hatred” ^{[31] [32] [33]} .

In the article “God is not in power, but in Truth” (2014), “Crimean Truth” posted photos of the leaders of the DPR and LPR Bolotov , Gubarev , Ponomarev and Pushilin with the caption “ Guys, we are proud of you, beat the fascist reptiles!” ". Photos of Ukrainian politicians Turchinov , Lyashko , Kolomoisky and Yatsenyuk journalists signed: “ Look at this scum. Above are faces, and these are faces . ” The text of the article ended with the phrase: “ We want all of you to die, all of you to rest, creatures!” " ^{[34] [35]} . Three weeks later, an article “Uzbichchya” is already got! ”, Where Nadezhda Valueva writes:“ Well, tell me, for God's sake, how much can you endure the consequences of almost a quarter- century Ukrainization ?! How does the "Simferopol" sign hurt at the entrance to the city, which, like everyone else, became Russian after the referendum of March 16 ! Why can’t you remove the signs with the words “Dyakuemo for clean uzbichchya” on the roads, how much can “dyakuvati” and not give thanks? Why should we put up with all this at home? " ^{[36] [37]} .

In June 2017, the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine included the publication’s website in the list of banned ^[38] .

During the war, employees of the newspaper died at the front: Mikhail Mutsit (the author of the first military correspondence of the newspaper on June 23, 1941, "Get up, the country is huge!" About the first German bombing of Sevastopol. ^{[39] [40]} ), E. Benditsky, L. Nun , M. Soloviev, N. Maltsev, I. Sukhinenko, L. Chudakov, M. Calvari, I. Bloch, N. Litvinov, E. Pevzner, M. Sokolsky ^[41] .

The newspaper published Julian Semenov and his daughter Olga Semenova . The newspaper has a writer Natalya Astakhova . ^[42]

In 1928, the village correspondent of the newspaper Fedor Prikhodko died at the hands of the kulaks. His native village Illarionovka, destroyed by German troops, was named Fedorovka during restoration ^[41] .

The newspaper was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol" (1960). In 1968, the newspaper was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor "for fruitful work on the communist education of the workers of the Crimean region, mobilizing them for the tasks of economic and cultural construction and in connection with the 50th anniversary of the first issue." ^[43]

In Simferopol there is a street named after a newspaper (formerly Oranzhereinaya St., renamed in 1998 on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the newspaper). Four streets in Simferopol are named after the people who participated in the preparation of its first number in 1918. May 5, 1985 - on the fortieth anniversary of the Great Victory, a monument to frontline journalists and polygraphists of the Crimea was erected near the editorial office ^[41] .

In February 2008, in connection with the 90th anniversary of the newspaper, two journalists received a certificate of honor from the Council of Ministers of the ARC ^[44] .

In 2016, the newspaper received the gratitude of the President of Russia “for his merits in the development of the media and fruitful activities” ^[45] .

• Crimean Truth began preparations for the 100th anniversary , IA Kryminform, May 29, 2015
• Parents of our newspaper , Crimean Truth, September 26, 2012
• This is our biography with you , Crimean Truth No. 177 (25000) of September 30, 2010