Russia: Authorities prosecute seven foreign journalists covering the war in the Kursk region

[UPDATED 31.01.2025] Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) have opened criminal cases against British reporters Nick Paton Walsh and Jerome Starkey; Ukrainian correspondents Olesya Nikolaevna Borovik and Diana Vladimirovna Butsko; Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini; and TV journalist Catherine Norris Trent for illegally crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sudzha, the Kursk region in western Russia. If found guilty, the journalists could face up to five years in prison. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) rejects the charges brought against the journalists by the Russian authorities, which seem determined not only to silence local journalists that dare to speak up against Russia's actions in Ukraine, but also to hamper and censor the work of international journalists covering the war.

[Link]

Screenshot of CNN video. Credit: CNN

On 22 August, Russia's security services opened a criminal investigation against British reporter and CNN's International Security Editor, Nick Paton Walsh, following a legal assessment of visual materials that allegedly prove the presence of the British reporter in Sudzha.

However, Paton Walsh is not the only foreign journalist prosecuted by Russian authorities for covering the cross-border Ukrainian offensive in Russian territory. Ukrainian correspondents Olesya Borovik, who was working for My-Ukraina television, and Diana Butsko, who was reporting for the local Hromadske news site, are also being prosecuted based on the same charges.

Five days earlier, on 17 August, the Russian News Agency TASS reported that the FSB state security service had initiated a criminal case in relation to charges of illegally crossing the border against Italian reporters Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, who took video footage in Sudzha, the Russian region of Kursk. The Italian media crew, who were working for the public broadcaster RAI under Ukrainian military escort, were the first to report the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region that started on 6 August.

If found guilty, the reporters could face up to five years in prison, according to Russia's Criminal Code. The FSB announced that prosecuted journalists will shortly be placed on an international wanted list.

The Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a TV report on 14 August showing their correspondents driving in the region accompanied by Ukrainian military. After the broadcast, threats of prosecution against the two Italian journalists flooded Russian media and prompted their media employer RAI to make the journalists "return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal safety and security". Battistini and Traini arrived safely in Milan, Italy, on 18 August.

Following their return, the General Secretary of the IFJ affiliate, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), Alessandra Costante, said: "We wonder what the government is waiting for to show discomfort and amazement towards Putin's Russia [...] What could have an impact on this affair is to summon the Russian ambassador to formally ask for an account of the threats to the two journalists and to all Italian media."

Russia's Foreign Ministry said that it had summoned Italy's ambassador in Moscow in relation to the border crossing.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "We utterly reject the charges brought by Russian authorities against foreign journalists for simply doing their job. Bringing legal action against and prosecuting foreign journalists to intimidate and silence them shows Russia's desperation to control the war's narrative beyond its borders. We stand in full solidarity with prosecuted journalists and urge the Russian government to halt its tactics involving journalists for political ends."

UPDATES

08.10.2024 A Russian court issued arrest warrants against Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini for illegally crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border in in Sudzha, the Russian region of Kursk. They were the first journalists, who travelled to the region under Ukrainian military escort, to report the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region in August. Italy's foreign ministry condemned the move as a "persecution".

27.11.2024 A court in Russia has ordered the arrest of France 24 Catherine Norris Trent on a charge of crossing illegally into the Kursk region from Ukraine, Russian news agency TASS reported.

30.01.2025 A Russian court issued an arrest warrant for UK journalist Jerome Starkey, accusing him of illegally crossing into the Kursk region from Ukraine into Russia. "It's just another example of desperate rhetoric from Putin's government. Of course, we condemn it," the British Prime Minister's official spokesman said.