Two Italian journalists from the RAI news agency will return to Italy for safety reasons after Russia threatened to prosecute them for entering the country to report on Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast, RAI Managing Director Roberto Sergio said on Aug. 17.
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Aug. 16 summoned the Italian ambassador regarding the news team, accusing them of "illegally" crossing the border into Kursk Oblast and promising to press criminal charges against the journalists.
"The company has decided, exclusively to ensure safety and personal protection, to return, temporarily to Italy, journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini," Sergio said.
The RAI news team were the first to publish a foreign media report of Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast.
Cecilia Piccioni, Italy's ambassador in Moscow, told the Russian authorities when summoned that RAI's reporters "plan their activities in a totally independent and autonomous way."
RAI also stressed that their reporters "complied with the norms of international law" when covering the situation in Kursk Oblast.
"Journalism is not a crime," RAI union Usigrai and Italy's national press union FNSI said in a joint statement.
"The Moscow authorities' possibility of putting Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini on trial is unacceptable. Reporting is not done with prior authorizations."
Chris York
(Updated: )
