Ukraine's Culture Ministry: We cannot remove fortune-tellers from telethon

Tarot cards for fortune-telling. Photo: risu.ua

The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine has stated that it cannot influence the inclusion of stories about unproven medicine, esoteric practices, numerology, and psychics on national telethon “United News” broadcasts. This was reported by the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU).

According to the report, Interfax-Ukraine sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Culture seeking clarity on the legality of broadcasting stories that promote unproven medicine, esoteric practices, numerology, psychics, fortune-tellers, tarot cards, and feng shui during the telethon.

In its response, representatives of the Ministry of Culture said: “We inform you that the Ministry cannot influence the professional activities of journalists and the editorial policies of media outlets, particularly regarding stories about alternative medicine, esoteric practices, numerology, psychics, etc., which are produced by television channels airing on the ‘United News’ telethon.”

The Ministry emphasized that the Constitution of Ukraine and laws prohibit censorship and unwarranted government interference in the activities of media entities and the professional work of journalists.

On January 6, the national telethon aired a segment titled “Astrological Forecast for 2025” during the broadcast slot of the 1+1 channel. In this segment, the channel’s correspondent interviewed psychics, astro-numerologists, and feng shui practitioners who used tarot cards and numerology to make predictions about the Ukrainian military’s counteroffensive, the de-occupation of territories, spring negotiations mediated by Donald Trump, and the signing of agreements.

The journalists in the segment did not question these esoteric practices, instead emphasizing, “Whether to believe these predictions or not is up to each individual to decide.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that General Zaluzhny shared how a fortune-teller predicted his involvement in a war with Russia.

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