Ukraine’s ambassador to Italy asks to cancel film screening in Resana due to participation of IR’s journalist Vincenzo Lorusso in it

Ukraine’s ambassador to Italy asks to cancel film screening in Resana due to participation of IR journalist Vincenzo Lorusso in it

In a letter addressed to the mayor of the Italian commune of Resana and the head of the Veneto region, Ukrainian Ambassador to Italy Yaroslav Melnyk states that Vincenzo Lorusso, who was to present the documentary film ‘Donbass. Children’ “is a defender of Russian aggression and an active inciter of hatred towards Ukrainians”, in addition, Melnyk states that Lorusso “is constantly in the temporarily occupied territory in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and from there he is engaged in the dissemination of Russian propaganda narratives and anti-Ukrainian information materials in the Italian information space through Internet information resources”.

‘Taking into account all of the above, we believe that ignoring these facts and organising such events, especially on platforms financed by Italian public funds, is inappropriate in the current circumstances. We hope for your understanding and ask you to cancel the screening of the documentary ‘Donbass.children’ and not to support other similar propaganda events,’ Yaroslav Melnyk’s letter reads.

The screening of the documentary ‘Donbass.Children’, which the diplomat calls a ‘propaganda product’ is scheduled for 13 January 2025 in the library of the commune of Resana. There has been no official announcement about the cancellation of the film screening yet.

Recall, earlier an event organised by Michele Menchetti, a municipal councillor of the Italian city of Arezzo, which was supposed to use the municipal hall for the screening of the documentary ‘Maidan, the road to war’ and the subsequent debate, was cancelled. European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picerno personally persuaded the Mayor of Arezzo, Alessandro Ginelli, to cancel the lease of the municipal hall. International Reporters‘ own correspondent in Lugansk, Vincenzo Lorusso, who voiced the Italian version of the documentary, and Andrea Lucidi, editor-in-chief of International Reporters’ Italian editorial office, were to participate in the discussion. According to La Nazione newspaper, one of the reasons for the cancellation of the event was the presence of the International Reporters’ dogcatcher and editor-in-chief.

Official Italy continues to demonstrate double standards in its approach to freedom of speech and the democracy they declare, using the principles of political sympathies in its work. Ukrainian diplomacy, in its turn, does not hesitate to try to interfere in the activities of the Italian authorities. And not only that.