Protecting intellectual property and countering propaganda: The Clear Sky Initiative on the results of 2025
The Clear Sky Initiative is an anti-piracy association that has protected intellectual property online and countered hostile propaganda since 2013. In 2025, the Initiative prioritized blocking media services of the aggressor state, ensuring the effectiveness of these blocks, disrupting financial flows to pirate resources, and holding violators accountable.
Blocking the media services of the aggressor state
Countering Russian aggression in the information space remains a priority. In 2025, following appeals from the Clean Sky Initiative (CSI), the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting banned 23 Russian media services.
These included 17 streaming sites and online TV services that broadcast Russian TV channels and six networks of pirate movie sites. In addition, thanks to the activities of the Clear Sky Initiative (CSI), the National Council added mirrors of previously banned resources to the list of media services of the aggressor state, including BASKINO, FILMIX, HDRezka, KINOGO, KINORRAD, KINOTOCHKA, KINOZAPAS, and GidOnline.
In addition, in 2025, 589 pro-Russian and pirate sites were blocked. In total, 56 media services of the aggressor state and 848 sites are currently banned in Ukraine. 83.9% of them are thanks to the Clean Sky Initiative.
“Blocking hostile resources is an ongoing process. The Clear Sky Initiative (CSI) continues to identify new pirate resources and 'mirrors' of blocked websites, and to submit evidence of their pro-Russian activities to the regulator. As of the end of 2025, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting is processing 9 appeals from the Initiative," commented Vyacheslav Mienko, head of the Clear Sky anti-piracy initiative and deputy director general for legal affairs at 1+1 media.
Monitoring the effectiveness of blocking
Blocking a resource is not enough to make it inaccessible to Ukrainian viewers; it is equally important to monitor its implementation by providers. Therefore, at the end of 2025, the ICN began monitoring compliance with the decisions of the National Council by the largest telecommunications operators and has already checked the providers: PJSC Datagroup, LLC UKRCOM, PJSC “VF Ukraine,” LLC “Sky Vision Ukraine,” LLC “Ayol Net,” LLC “Ukrtelecom,” LLC “Intrafik,” LLC “Utel,” LLC “Zhitlo Comfort Telecom,” LLC “VOLZ.”
The Initiative comments that the monitoring results have revealed an unsatisfactory state of blocking prohibited resources among many of the providers checked. Appeals are currently being prepared to the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting and the National Commission for State Regulation of Electronic Communications (NCCEC) to initiate unscheduled inspections of violators.
Combating the financing of pirate resources
To combat pirate resources, it is important not only to block but also to prohibit the placement of advertisements on websites that violate intellectual property rights and are included in the Ukrainian blacklist WIPO ALERT. We remind you that, in accordance with the amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” introduced in 2023, placing advertisements for gambling on websites from the WIPO ALERT list is punishable by a fine of 300 minimum wages, i.e., more than UAH 3 million.
In 2025, at the request of 1+1 media, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine added several popular pirate websites to the National List of Websites of Concern Regarding Intellectual Property Rights, which is part of the international WIPO ALERT database. This list helps advertisers avoid working with pirate resources and deprives them of funding.
Thus, following appeals from the Clear Sky Initiative (CSI), the following sites were added to the list this year: hdrezka.info, kinogo.pro, kinozapas.io, tvbox-baraholka.ru, seasonvar.gg, zona.li, kin.tartugi.info, kinokong.day, bobfilm.org, kinogo.bingo, bobfilm.in. The Initiative is currently working to speed up the process of adding pirate sites to the National List.
Criminal liability for piracy? Yes!
In August 2025, the Zboriv District Court of the Ternopil Region delivered a guilty verdict in an intellectual property rights case. The offender, who illegally broadcast Ukrainian channels, received a three-year sentence with probation.
This is a notable example, but not the only one, of content thieves being held criminally liable. Currently, the ICH is awaiting the court's approval of an additional 40 convictions against pirates.
The team is also awaiting convictions in other criminal proceedings initiated against pirate resources. Ongoing work with law enforcement agencies continues daily, including monitoring criminal cases and collecting evidence.
“Protecting intellectual property and countering hostile propaganda are ongoing tasks, not one-time actions. In 2025, we focused not only on blocking Russian and pirate resources but also on monitoring the effectiveness of these blocks, cutting off financial flows, and ensuring real accountability for violators. The Clear Sky initiative will continue to work to create a secure Ukrainian information space," said Vyacheslav Mienko.
