The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reacted to the visit of a German journalist from the ZDF TV channel to the occupied Mariupol, Donetsk region. A statement was posted on his page in X by the ministry's spokesman, Oleh Nikolenko.

"Distortion of reality is not journalism," he wrote, adding that the visit of the head of the Moscow bureau to occupied Mariupol without Ukraine's consent violated Ukrainian law and called for official explanations.

Nikolenko emphasized that the violation of Ukrainian legislation could affect the further work of this TV channel in Ukraine.

As a reminder, on January 29, the German TV channel ZDF showed a report from Mariupol and presented it as a "rare look at the Russian occupation."

ZDF correspondent Armin Kerper spoke about the "large amount of destruction" he saw. However, he also noted "a lot of reconstruction work" in the city.

"Streets, schools, residential buildings and entire neighborhoods are being rebuilt. And it's happening very quickly," he said. 

The journalist also said that the TV channel's team got to Mariupol "independently". They traveled from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don, and then got to Mariupol. At the same time, according to the reporter, "no one was following them" and "journalists could freely communicate with residents."

Later, on January 30, the ZDF report was posted on the page with the editorial commentary:

"ZDF takes criticism of reports from Mariupol seriously. The director of the Moscow studio, Armin Kerper, went to Mariupol as a journalist to get an independent picture of the situation in the territories occupied in violation of international law. He tells about the city that was completely destroyed as a result of the Russian aggressive war and its forced Russification. Armin Kerper makes it clear that opponents of the Russian occupation have to fear reprisals if they talk to a Western journalist," the statement reads.