The political scientist called Kulyukhin's dismissal a contradiction to freedom of the press.

The suspension of Izvestia journalist Nikita Kulyukhin from attending press conferences of the head of the department, Gideon Saar, after his question about praising nationalist leader Stepan Bandera in Ukraine contradicts freedom of the press and speech. This was stated on March 17 by political scientist, retired Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen in an interview with Izvestia.

"This contradicts freedom of the press, freedom of speech, contradicts the whole philosophy of why we created Israel in the Middle East as a democratic institution," Rasmussen said.

He noted that Kulyukhin raised the right question, because this topic is very important. According to him, Israeli representatives need to worry about the fact that streets in Ukraine are being renamed and named after Bandera and other nationalists, and not turn a blind eye to this.

"They turn a blind eye to this, unfortunately, it is a disgrace. <...> I think Israel should be concerned that streets are named after Bandera and the ultranationalist movement, and monuments are being erected," the political scientist stressed.

In addition, Rasmussen drew attention to the fact that the Israeli Foreign Ministry should have behaved more professionally and filed a complaint with the government of Ukraine. He also noted that the Israeli Foreign Minister behaved "very badly" and he should have resolved the issue "much more diplomatically."

At a press conference on March 4, Izvestia journalist Nikita Kulyukhin asked why the Israeli side did not condemn the glorification in Ukraine of accomplices of nationalists during the Holocaust, including their leader Bandera, responsible for the deaths of many Jews. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar replied that he had not known about this before the question was asked. After the incident on March 16, the Jewish state banned Kulyukhin from attending the weekly Saar press conferences. According to the journalist, the agency did this out of fear of an international scandal.

Israeli statesman, former head of the Israeli Nativ intelligence agency, and political scientist Yakov Kedmi stressed that the journalist's suspension from attending press conferences contradicts the principles on which Israel was built. In turn, Ricardo Sanchez Serra, deputy chairman of the Peruvian Federation of Journalists, noted in an interview with Izvestia that Israel's denial of support for neo-Nazism in Ukraine harms the Jewish state.