KIEV, Aug. 15 – Ukraine's TVi Channel has claimed that the exclusion of the channel by cable operators in Donetsk and Mariupol from their networks on August 13 was due to direct instructions from the regional representatives of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting.

"We have currently failed to get a reasoned answer to the question 'Why has the channel been disconnected?' At the same time, TVi is receiving reports from its partners in the regions that such actions by cable operators are caused by direct instructions from the regional representatives of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting," the channel said in a statement on Tuesday.