Ukraine’s public broadcaster has received a large outside broadcasting van from Japan. The vehicle is expected to help it continue and strengthen broadcasting activities amid Russia’s invasion.
A handover ceremony was held at the broadcaster’s station in the capital Kyiv on Monday. The broadcaster is known as Suspilne.
The OB van was provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, in cooperation with the NHK Foundation and others.
The vehicle can be equipped with 10 cameras. It will be used not just for news but also for sports, cultural and other types of programming.
At the ceremony, Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Matsuda Kuninori expressed his respect for all the journalists who are “tirelessly and bravely” delivering news on Russia’s invasion to the Ukrainian population and the world.
Matsuda stressed that the van will help Suspilne to enhance its broadcasting capabilities by increasing program production capacity.
Suspilne’s Chairman Mykola Chernotytsky said, “We’re incredibly happy that this will allow us to make more quality content for our audience.”
In preparation for possible intensified attacks on Kyiv, JICA will provide another OB van to the broadcaster’s branch in Lviv in the country’s west.
A JICA official in charge of governance and peacebuilding, Masuda Junko, was also at the ceremony.
Masuda expressed hope that the OB van will help with the public broadcaster’s mission to deliver accurate information, especially at a time when disinformation from Russia is highly likely.