News Feed

Russian journalist and outspoken war critic escapes from house arrest

2 min read
Russian journalist and outspoken war critic escapes from house arrest
Illustrative image: Russian police detain opposition supporters during a 'March of Millions' protest rally against Vladimir Putin's return in Moscow, Russia, on May 6, 2012. More than 250 people, including opposition leaders, were arrested. (Oleg Nikishin / Epsilon / Getty Images)

Ekaterina Barabash, a Russian journalist who was arrested earlier this year for speaking out against the war in Ukraine, has escaped house arrest and is now wanted by police, Russian state media reported on April 21.

Barabash, 63, was initially detained by the Russian Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency tasked with investigating serious federal crimes, on Feb. 25.

The Russian Investigative Committee claimed in a Telegram post on February 26 that Barabash "admitted her guilt in full" during an interrogation.

She was then placed under house arrest by a Moscow court for posting "fake news" on her Facebook account about the war in Ukraine and was expected to stay there until April 25.

Russian authorities were alerted to her disappearance on April 13 by an electronic monitoring system. "The accused has been declared wanted," Russian state media reported.

Barabash has Ukrainian heritage and is the mother-in-law of Ukrainian screenwriter Lyuba Yakimchuk. She is also the daughter of late Ukrainian-born literary scholar and Shevchenko Prize laureate Yuriy Barabash.

For years, Barabash has publicly supported Ukraine on her social media accounts and condemned Russia's full-scale invasion.

“(You) bastards bomb a country, raze entire cities to the ground, kill hundreds of children, shoot at peaceful people for no reason, keep Mariupol under a blockade, deprive millions of people of a normal life, and force them to leave for foreign countries. For what? For the sake of friendship with Ukraine? You are Evil on a planetary scale," Barabash wrote on Facebook.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has cracked down on dissent and freedom of expression, specifically targeting people who have been critical of the war. Thousands of Russian citizens have been arrested and jailed for speaking out against the Putin regime.

Russia announces ‘resumption’ of hostilities after Easter ceasefire as Kyiv reports violations
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of nearly 3,000 ceasefire violations during the supposed Easter truce.
Article image
Avatar
Lucy Pakhnyuk

News Editor

News Feed

In an interview with ABC News on Aug. 24, former CIA Director and retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus cast doubt on both the likelihood of a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and on Putin's willingness to negotiate in good faith.

Although this time Ukraine has not yet announced the number of people released, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) said among them were eight civilians, including Ukrainian journalists Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush and former mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Mykolaienko.

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down Monday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which came just a few days after Trump’s Aug. 15 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Show More