Aussie Radio Station Bans Russian DJ Who Questioned West's Ukraine Narrative

Media voices that contradict the NATO narrative on the Ukraine conflict have been silenced across the West in recent weeks.

An Australian radio station has suspended a Russian host for challenging the mainstream media narrative on the conflict in Ukraine.

Lawyer Oleg Bydanov, who presented two weekly Russian language programmes on Melbourne's 3ZZZ station as an unpaid volunteer, was accused of airing "offensive" content.

3ZZZ manager Jon King claimed some listeners had complained that Bydanov was broadcasting "offensive material, in conflict with our codes of practise."

"In response to those complaints we are going through our station complaints process," he told Daily Mail Australia.

The "offensive" content included an excerpt of Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech announcing Moscow's recognition of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (the DPR and LPR).

Bydanov also pointed out that the Russian forces in Ukraine were not targeting civilians, major cities or non-military infrastructure.

In another programme, the presenter played a a satirical song that ridiculed the 2014 Maidan Square coup against elected president Viktor Yanukovych.

And he informed listeners that he once worked for Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia and former prosecutor general. Bastrykin is one of numerous Russian officials and private citizens now subject to Western sanctions.

Bydanov also opined that Russian Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky was more intelligent than many Western politician, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

King said that because the station's presenters were all volunteers, "we don't get to do as thorough a vetting process as a recruitment for a salaried position as, say, SBS would do with their broadcasters."

3ZZZ president George Salloum said in a statement that the station condemned "all acts of war and violence."

"3ZZZ promotes harmony and diversity and contributes to an inclusive, cohesive and culturally-diverse Australian community, the first guiding principle under our community radio broadcasting codes of practice," Salloum said.

Russian TV news channel RT has already been taken off air by Australian satellite operator Foxtel.