SIMFEROPOL, March 09, 19:31 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian television channels have launched broadcasts in Crimea on frequencies which were used by Ukrainian television companies prior to stopping all broadcasts in the autonomy’s territory on Sunday morning.

Russia’s Channel One, Russia-24 TV news channel, NTV, TNT, STS and Russia 1 will now run their programmes on frequencies that were used by Ukrainian television companies, which stopped all broadcasts in the autonomy’s territory on Sunday morning.

The Crimean authorities have not issued any official comments on the channel change. Ordinary people polled in the streets of Simferopol told Itar-Tass that they had nothing against the disappearance of the Ukrainian channels whose coverage of the events in Crimea under the current circumstances had been one-sided.

“Like many Ukrainian media outlets, they are not telling the truth,” one respondent told Itar-Tass.

“All the people in Crimea understand perfectly well that an information war is under way with an aim to destabilise the situation ahead of the referendum or disrupt it completely,” another local resident, Nikolai, said.

A concert in support of the March 16 referendum on Crimea’s status took place in the centre of Simferopol on Sunday while tens of thousands came out on rallies across Russia to support the people of Crimea.