<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The head of Radio New Zealand has apologised for publishing what he called "pro-Kremlin garbage".</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A journalist has been placed on leave after it was discovered several online stories about the war in Ukraine had been altered in favour of Russia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chief executive Paul Thompson said about 250 stories had already been forensically reviewed since staff were alerted on Friday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sixteen stories have been edited and thousands more are to be scrutinised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is so disappointing. I'm gutted. It's painful. It's shocking," he told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme. "We have to get to the bottom of how it happened."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Thompson announced there would be an external review of the organisation's editing processes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The journalist in question claims to have been editing news agency copy published on the RNZ website for years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A statement on RNZ - which is state-owned - said after uncovering issues in the 16 stories, they had now been republished with corrections and editor's notes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Thompson has apologised to listeners, readers, staff and the Ukrainian community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's so disappointing that this pro-Kremlin garbage has ended up in our stories," Mr Thompson told Nine to Noon. "It's inexcusable."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The edited articles' claims included that Russia had illegally annexed Crimea after a referendum - but Russia's occupation of Ukraine's southern peninsula is not recognised by Ukraine and the wider international community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United Nations has passed a resolution, emphasising the illegitimacy of the referendum. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>