Espreso TV () is an Internet television station in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
that started to operate in November 2013. Espreso TV enabled the
Euromaidan
Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...
protests to be broadcast worldwide.
Ownership
The channel is owned by the media company Goldberry LLC.Espreso TV Goldberry LLC
Prior to August 2017 99% of Espreso TV belonged to Larysa Knyazhytska, the wife of
Mykola Knyazhytsky
TVi () was a Ukrainian TV channel that began broadcasting in 2008; it was widely seen as Ukraine's only independent TV channel.
In August 2017 Inna Avakova (the wife of former
Minister of Internal Affairs
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Arsen Avakov
Arsen Borysovych Avakov (, ; born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician of Armenian descent who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine from 2014 to 2021. He was the Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration from ...
) acquired 40% of Goldberry LLC and
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk (born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He was t ...
(former
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
) acquired 30%; the remaining 30% of Goldberry LLC stayed in the possession of Larysa Knyazhytska.
In December 2017 the US Atmosphere Entertainment became a major shareholder of Espreso TV by purchasing 77.5% stake in Goldberry LLC that runs Espreso TV in Ukraine. The final beneficiary of the US company is Ivan Zhevago.
History
On 22 January 2014, a journalist of Espreso TV Dmytro Dvoychenkov was kidnapped, beaten, and taken to an unknown location. He was later released.
Cyber attacks
On February 19, 2024, at around 7:30 p.m., unknown hackers gained access to the broadcast signal of the Espreso TV channel.
The attackers broadcast a short footage of destroyed Ukrainian cities and a video of Joe Biden falling and stumbling with a call to stop, hinting at the alleged involvement of the United States in the war in Ukraine.
On December 16, 2024, at around 12:50 p.m., attackers gained unauthorized access to the TV channel’s server and tried to broadcast a video with a fake appeal from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Russian.