Russia launched a criminal investigation into CNN correspondent Nick Walsh and Ukrainian journalists Diana Butsko and Olesia Borovyk on the grounds of an "illegal border crossing" while reporting on Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast, the state-owned news agency TASS reported on Aug. 22.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) also said it would put out an international warrant for their arrest.
The journalists reported from the Russian town of Sudzha, which is now controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces following Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk Oblast.
Butsko told her outlet, Hromadske, that she saw the investigation as an attempt to pressure the independent press and hide the truth about what was happening in the area.
The FSB previousy opened a criminal case on similar grounds against a journalist and a cameraman of the Italian Rai 1 channel, Stefani Battistini and Simoni Traini, Meduza reported 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 Kyiv Independent also published a report from Sudzha but did not reveal the identities of the people involved for security reasons.
Ukraine started its incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6. As of Aug. 20, the Ukrainian military said it controlled 1,263 square kilometers (488 square miles) and 93 settlements, including the town of Sudzha. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that another settlement was captured as of Aug. 22.
The Kyiv Independent
(Updated: )
