Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that it has opened criminal cases against foreign journalists for "illegally" crossing the border between Ukraine and Russia's Kursk region.
The FSB said in a statement that the latest journalists to be investigated are Catherine Norris Trent from FRANCE 24 and Kurt Pelda from Switzerland's CH Media. They are accused by the Russian authorities of having “illegally crossed the border into the Russian Federation in the Kursk region”, according to the statement.
Ukraine on August 6 mounted a surprise attack against the Kursk region, taking territory around the frontier town of Sudzha. Several foreign media reported from the area occupied by Kyiv’s forces.
Russia regularly announces investigations against foreign journalists who have visited the Ukrainian-held area, and 14 have so far been targeted by such accusations. Proceedings have been opened against journalists from US channel CNN, the Italian RAI and the German Deutsche Welle news organisations.
The journalists targeted by these investigations do not appear to be in Russia, but they could face up to five years in prison under Russian law.
(With AFP and Reuters)
FRANCE 24’s senior reporter Catherine Norris Trent was invited by the Ukrainian government to access territory it had recently occupied and was embedded with the Ukrainian army during her Kursk trip. This is protected activity in accordance with the rights afforded to journalists under the Geneva Convention and international law.
