The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, also known as PACE, has called for sanctions against Russian propagandists and state media, as well as recognizing the Russian Orthodox Church as a tool of Russian influence and propaganda.

This was announced on Oct. 1 by Yevhenia Kravchuk, deputy head of the Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee and a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, reeported NV, the New Voice of Ukraine.

Kravchuk said that a resolution, titled "Propaganda and Freedom of Information in Europe," was adopted by PACE with 117 votes in favor.

"The resolution states that member states of the Council of Europe must protect themselves from all forms of propaganda, including war propaganda, incitement to genocide and other international crimes, hate, terrorism, and discrimination," she said.

"They must also be able to counter and neutralize propaganda that contradicts the fundamental values of the European Convention on Human Rights."

Kravchuk noted that the Ukrainian delegation managed to introduce several amendments to the document, including:

The Religious Information Service of Ukraine cited Oleksii Honcharenko, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, who said 117 delegates voted in favor of the resolution, 14 voted against it, and five abstained.

It noted that 5 of the 14 parliamentarians who voted against it were Italians.

The resolution states that the Parliamentary Assembly is concerned about the active spread of propaganda aimed at biased public opinion, jeopardizing the proper functioning of democratic systems and threatening common values and human dignity.

"Such harmful propaganda includes both propaganda that is illegal and propaganda that, although not prohibited, may harm the development of free opinions and informed participation of citizens in public debate and decision-making through unethical methods of communication, including disinformation and tools of psychological manipulation," the resolution reads.

"The Assembly recognizes that for authoritarian regimes, such as the Russian Federation, propaganda is an integral part of their war against democracy.

"The Russian state television channel RT (formerly known as Russia Today) and its worldwide network, as well as 'troll factories', are part of a broader strategy aimed at destabilizing European democracies and influencing political processes.

"The Assembly also... reiterates its call to recognize that the Russian Orthodox Church is used as an instrument of Russian influence and propaganda by the Kremlin regime," reads the text of the amendment, which members of the Ukrainian delegation sponsored to PACE.