Slovakia has granted temporary protection to the former general producer of the channel "112 Ukraine" Artem Marchevskyi, writes the Slovak publication Deník N with reference to two sources. His lawyer, Leonid Kushnarenko, also confirmed that Marchevsky is now in Slovakia.
In March 2024 , the Czech government imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, Marchevsky, and the Voice of Europe news site, which was managed by Marchevsky. In the Czech Republic, it was found out that Voice of Europe is part of a Russian influence operation, the purpose of which is to question the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
Since after the introduction of sanctions, Marchevskyʼs accounts were blocked and his property was seized, he left the Czech Republic at the end of March. Prague submitted a request to cancel Marchevskyʼs residence permit — this would have been valid throughout the European Union, but he managed to obtain Slovakiaʼs internal protection.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Slovakia, Matus Šutaj Eštok, did not comment on this matter to the newspaper, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that they are investigating Marchevskyʼs case together with intelligence. His stay in the country will not be commented on until the end of the investigation.
Marchevsky would have had to leave Slovakia immediately if he had been included in the pan-European sanctions list, the publication notes.