Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 became a catalyst for the EU’s implementation of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 became a catalyst for the EU’s implementation of comprehensive restrictive measures. Europeans began systematically imposing sanctions against a number of Russian individuals, companies, and officials with the aim of intensifying economic pressure on the aggressor and weakening Russia’s ability to finance its full-scale hybrid war against Ukraine.

Thus, European sanctions included, in particular, the prohibition of Russian state media on the territory of the European Union. A decision that was previously considered impossible in a democratic society that professes the principles of freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions became a reality after February 24, 2022. This unprecedented step demonstrated Europe’s readiness to protect its information space from Russia’s destructive manipulations and hybrid threats.

The chronology of the prohibition of Russian media in the EU:

2022

• March: the EU Council took a decision to ban broadcasting of TV-channels “Russia Today” and “Sputnik”
• June: 6th EU sanctions package covered prohibition of channels “RTR Planeta”, “Rossiya 24”, “TV Center International”
• December: 9th EU sanctions package dealt with prohibition of TV-channels “Perviy Kanal”, “Rossiya-1”, “REN-TV”, “NTV/NTV-Mir”

2023-2024

• Continued blocking: prohibition of cable and digital terrestrial broadcasting of “Mezhdunarodny Teletsentr”, “Ren-TV”, “Belteleradiocompaniya” (Belarus)

2025

• February: within the 16th EU sanctions package were banned 8 additional Russian media outlets, i.e.: EADaily, Lenta.ru, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation, Krasnaya Zvezda, TV Zvezda
• May-July: announcement of a new sanctions package (17th package) with additional restrictions for pro-Kremlin media.

At the same time, despite the prohibition of broadcasting sanctioned channels, Russians find ways to circumvent restrictions on EU territory, promoting destructive propaganda content to viewers. Thus, the Ukrainian national television regulator – the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting – at the end of 2022 identified circumvention of European sanctions and access to sanctioned Russian television channels in EU countries through satellite platforms (pay-TV packages) of satellite communication operator Eutelsat (Eutelsat Communications).

Eutelsat is one of the leading European satellite communication operators, headquartered in Paris, France. The largest shareholders of Eutelsat are British Telecom, France Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom. It provides broadcasting of 7,000 television channels in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

According to official monitoring data from the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting during 2022-2023, it was recorded that Eutelsat hosts Russian satellite television platforms “NTV+” and “Tricolor”, which broadcast Russian television channels subject to EU sanctions: “Russia Today”, “Perviy Kanal”, “Rossiya 1”, “TVTs”, “NTV”.

The Ukrainian national regulator officially appealed to Eutelsat with a request to restrict the operation of satellite platforms “NTV+” and “Tricolor”, through which the broadcasting of sanctioned Russian channels continues.

In its response to the appeal, the French operator Eutelsat reported insufficient legal grounds for making such a decision, also arguing that specific television channels are under sanctions, whose broadcasting they have ceased, while the satellite platforms that distribute them are not under EU sanctions.

This situation called into question the effectiveness of the European sanctions mechanism, particularly regarding the cessation of Russian television channel broadcasting, since selective compliance with sanctions by EU business entities significantly weakens their role as an instrument of common foreign and security policy.

However, under the influence of the international community, particularly the international non-governmental organization – the “Denis Diderot Committee”, which unites scholars, experts and media professionals, and the Ukrainian side, the French regulator Arcom nonetheless obliged Eutelsat at the end of 2022 to cease broadcasting some sanctioned television channels through its satellites: “Russia Today”, “Perviy Kanal”, “Rossiya 1”, “TVTs”, “NTV”.

However, the remaining Russian broadcasters are still available to consumers on Eutelsat’s satellite capacities. In addition, the satellite operator still services contracts with the broadcasting association of the official television channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense “Zvezda” and the state media holding VGTRK (All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, VGTRK).

This situation remained in the field of view of European activists, and after their subsequent appeals, the French broadcasting regulator Arcom thoroughly investigated the matter regarding Eutelsat’s compliance with media sanctions. The investigation, which lasted from 2024-2025, revealed that the satellite television provider’s commercial agreements were connected to an organization under sanctions, namely – the company JSC “National Media Group”.

This became the reason for taking measures against satellite communication operator Eutelsat. On March 19, 2025, the French television regulator Arcom obliged the satellite operator to cease broadcasting two Russian channels “STS” and “Kanal 5”.

“These channels are controlled by the Russian company JSC ‘National Media Group’, whose financial resources have been frozen… which entails a prohibition on their distribution,” states Arcom’s announcement.

The main condition for Arcom’s decision to cease broadcasting channels “STS” and “Kanal 5” was a new provision of French law from May 21, 2024, aimed at protecting and regulating digital space (known as the “Sren law”), which granted the regulator “new powers”. For its part, Eutelsat emphasized that the mentioned channels were not “its direct clients”, but channels of “pay-TV operators who are Eutelsat clients”.

The international network of media experts “Denis Diderot Committee” welcomed Arcom’s decision, but noted that it concerns only 21 out of 190 frequencies that the organization indicated to the regulator. “In our view, the priority should be restricting the three “Zvezda” channels (ZVEZ.MM), which belong to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, and the ‘Spas’ channel, which is controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church,” noted André Lange, coordinator of the “Denis Diderot Committee,” during a press conference.

Thus, it took almost three years after the introduction of the first media sanctions for them to begin being implemented on EU territory. And as the Eutelsat example shows, the process and mechanism of sanctions implementation is imperfect. Russian propaganda television channels in the satellite broadcasting package continue to be transmitted to European audiences, and Russian propaganda continues to influence the EU information space, transforming public moods and perceptions of the war in Ukraine.

In this regard, the question arises whether it is appropriate to consider Eutelsat satellites as an alternative to Starlink satellites?

How reliable can this partner be if in recent years it has selectively implemented European sanctions and continued cooperating with Russian propaganda structures?

Is this not a real hybrid threat to the EU itself and Ukraine in particular?