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Russia investigating Western, Ukrainian journalists over reporting from Sudzha

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Russia investigating Western, Ukrainian journalists over reporting from Sudzha
A Russian house of culture in Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, Russia, in August 2024, about two weeks after the start of Ukraine's incursion. (Courtesy)

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.

Morning in Sudzha: Inside Ukrainian-occupied Russia as Kursk operation continues
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent traveled into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with Ukrainian soldiers during the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in the area. Since the trip constitutes an unsanctioned crossing of the state border between Russia and Ukraine, the identities of the author of the rep…
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Daria Svitlyk

Daria is a newsroom intern at the Kyiv Independent. She is a Media and Communication BSc student at the University of Surrey, U.K. She also studied Journalism and Social Communications at Kyiv's National University of Taras Shevchenko. Daria previously worked as a freelance copywriter and volunteered at a local town newspaper in Guildford, U.K.

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