Russia: More Criminal Charges Targeting War Correspondents Covering Ukrainian Incursion
Ukrainian journalists Diana Butsko, Olesya Borovik, and CNN’s Nick Peyton Walsh latest journalists slapped with bogus charges
Location: Russia
Date: August 22, 2024
Women Press Freedom strongly condemns the criminal charges brought against Ukrainian journalists Diana Butsko, Olesya Borovik, and CNN’s Nick Peyton Walsh by Russian federal security services for their coverage of Ukrainian military incursion into the Kursk region. These journalists, along with Italian reporters Stefania Battistini and Simoni Traini, are being charged with "illegal border crossing" and are being targeted for their frontline reporting on the conflict. The Kremlin's actions represent a deliberate attempt to intimidate journalists and stifle independent coverage of the war. Russia has long suppressed domestic media, and now it is extending these repressive tactics to foreign correspondents. We stand firmly in support of these journalists, rejecting the baseless charges and calling attention to the critical importance of their work in providing global audiences with an accurate understanding of the conflict. The world cannot stand by as the Kremlin seeks to dismantle global press freedoms.
WPF welcomes the judgment of the Fair Work Commission that found that broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf was fired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) following a social media post by Lattouf sharing a Human Rights Watch claim about Israel's actions in Gaza.
WPF is deeply concerned for the safety of press workers in Georgia following the disputed elections marred by violence, allegations of vote rigging, and claims of electoral misconduct. Throughout election day, journalists reporting at polling stations faced assaults, intimidation, and obstruction, highlighting the growing dangers for independent media covering politically sensitive events in the country
Women Press Freedom stands resolutely in solidarity with Arzu Yıldız, an investigative journalist from Turkiye forced into exile after facing persistent threats and persecution for her work. Yıldız's experience is emblematic of the broader crackdown on press freedom under President Tayyip Erdoğan's regime, where dissent is aggressively stifled. We unequivocally condemn the targeting and persecution of journalists by President Tayyip Erdoğan's government.
“As expected, they seem dissatisfied with independent reporting that accurately portrays the situation in the Kursk region. They don't like the fact that the Ukrainian military is adhering to international humanitarian law, so they're trying to silence us,” Hromadske reporter Diana Butsko tells Women Press Freedom after news broke of the charges filed against her, Olesya Borovik, and Nick Peyton Walsh. “But it won't work. We will continue to report from the front lines. Freedom of speech and independent journalism cannot be stopped,”
On August 22, 2024, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) opened criminal investigations into the reporters following their coverage of events in Sudzha, a town in the Kursk region. This area has become a focal point since early August when Ukrainian forces launched a surprise operation in the Russian region bordering Ukraine.
In response, the Russian government has sought to control the narrative by criminalizing journalists' activities, accusing them of illegally crossing into Russian territory — a charge that carries a potential five-year prison sentence. Last week, Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini were slapped with the same charges after their broadcast from Sudzha on Italy’s public broadcaster, RAI.
The FSB has also indicated that Butsko, Borovik, and Walsh could soon be placed on an international wanted list, a tactic Russia has previously used to target both exiled Russian and Ukrainian journalists critical of its actions. Such listings and criminal charges issued by Russia can create obstacles for journalists, disrupting their travel and complicating visa applications. This manipulation of international legal instruments serves to further isolate reporters, pressure them into compliance with the Kremlin's narrative, and deter them from reporting.
Women Press Freedom has consistently documented Russia’s escalating violations against journalists, both within and beyond its borders. Russia’s war of aggression has claimed the lives of at least eight women journalists in Ukraine, with many more injured in Russian strikes. Several Ukrainian women journalists, including Zhanna Kyseliova and Victoria Roshchyna, have been abducted and detained by Russian forces in occupied Ukraine, they are still behind bars.
Within Russia, the state has suffocated independent and truthful reporting on the war by enforcing military censorship laws, shutting down media outlets, imprisoning journalists, and forcing those who seek to report the truth to flee the country.
The Kremlin’s pursuit of criminal charges against foreign war correspondents like Butsko, Borovik, Walsh, and their colleagues is a blatant attempt to silence voices that provide independent coverage of the conflict. By accusing these reporters of illegal border crossing, Russia is weaponizing its legal system to intimidate and control the media, denying the global public access to accurate information.The issuance of international arrest warrants intensifies the threat by potentially restricting journalists' movements and pressuring them, while also sending a clear message to other media outlets to abandon their reporting from the frontlines.
Women Press Freedom urges the international community to condemn these unjust charges and offer robust support to journalists working in conflict zones. The global press must not be silenced by Russia’s oppressive tactics, and reporters on the frontlines must be protected.
WPF is deeply saddened by the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschyna, who died under unclear circumstances while being transferred to a Moscow prison. The circumstances of her death remain uncertain, but one fact is clear: the Kremlin bears responsibility.
WPF strongly condemns the criminal charges brought against Ukrainian journalists Diana Butsko, Olesya Borovik, and CNN’s Nick Peyton Walsh by Russian federal security services for their coverage of Ukrainian military incursion into the Kursk region.
WPF is alarmed that the well-known journalist is facing issues traveling due to the Kremlin’s concerted and unjust transnational repression tactics
WPF strongly condemns Moscow's legal threats against Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, who work for the Italian public broadcaster RAI. The journalists stand accused of "illegal border-crossing" after reporting on Ukraine’s counter-invasion in Russia's Kursk region.
WPF is delighted that Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva has been released from prison in Russia and is finally, after ten grueling months, able to return home to family in Prague.
WPF condemns the sentencing of Ukrainian TV presenter Natalia Moseychuk to five years in prison by a Moscow court, in yet another transnational repression attack on press freedom.
WPF condemns the Kremlin’s relentless legal harassment of exiled journalists under “foreign agent” law.
Elizaveta Surnacheva is now facing a second prosecution for failing to comply with the reporting requirements imposed on those labeled as “foreign agents.”
Olga Komleva, a reporter and activist from Ufa, is facing mounting legal pressures and accusations.
In a stark affront to press freedom, a Russian court has convicted American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva in a secret trial, sentencing her to six and a half years in prison.
Exiled journalist Lyudmila Savitskaya has been subjected to continuous legal and financial harassment by the Russian regime, WPF is worryingly documenting.
War photographers Olga Kovalova and Vladyslav Krasnoshchok were injured by Russian shelling while covering the conflict in Toretsk, Donetsk.
Women Press Freedom condemns the continued persecution of journalist who has faced years of harassment.
WPF strongly condemns the ongoing persecution of journalists by the Russian government, which continues to label independent news outlets as “undesirable.”
WPF strongly denounces this transnational repression and calls on the international community to stand in solidarity with Taratuta and other exiled journalists who remain vulnerable to state-sanctioned reprisals from Russia for continuing to report.
Russian-US journalist and author Masha Gessen was convicted in absentia by a Moscow court on charges of spreading false information about the military.
The Kremlin has initiated yet another deplorable attack on press freedom by opening an administrative case against exiled journalist Yulia Latynina.
The Interior Ministry issues arrest warrants for at least 13 women and non-binary journalists.
Court arrests Lazareva in absentia following search warrant by Ministry of Internal Affairs. The renowned journalist is unjustly accused of justifying terrorism.
The deepfake targeting France 24 and journalist Catalina Marchant de Abreu is a serious threat to press freedom and public trust.
WPF vehemently condemns the recent decision by a St. Petersburg court to label the journalist couple Lydia Nevzorova and Aleksandr Nevzorov as an “extremist union.”
WPF denounces additional fines slapped on Baranova for “failure to comply with foreign agent law”
Russian military forces detained Zhanna Kyseliova, editor of the Kakhovska Zoria newspaper, on June 27, 2024, in Kakhovka, Kherson, following a raid on her apartment.
WPF denounces Russia’s decision to revoke the accreditation of Carola Schneider, a seasoned Moscow correspondent for Austria’s ORF.
WPF unequivocally condemns the Kremlin’s persistent and cynical use of transnational repression to silence dissenting voices, both domestically and abroad.
Arrested in absentia, journalist Ekaterina Fomina faces charges for disseminating "fakes" about the Russian army — a clear retaliation against her investigative reporting, which exposed a Russian soldier's confession to murder in Ukraine.
WPF condemns in the strongest terms the Russian Foreign Ministry's decision to revoke the accreditation of Austrian journalist Maria Knips-Witting and order her expulsion from the country.
WPF condemns in the strongest terms the recent actions taken by Rosfinmonitorin in designating journalists Maria Menshikova and Anna Loiko as “terrorists and extremists.”
Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who went missing in August 2023, is being held by Russia’s Ministry of Defence, WPF can confirm.
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