Russian journalist who escaped house arrest in Moscow arrives in Paris
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'Her escape was one of the most perilous operations RSF has been involved in since Russia's draconian laws of March 2022,' said the group's director, Thibaut Bruttin, during a press conference with Barabash at RSF's Paris headquarters. 'At one point, we thought she might be dead.'
Days after invading Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian authorities adopted legislation that outlawed any public expression about the war that went against the official government narrative.
Barabash, 63, condemned on Monday the lack of freedoms in Russia while detailing her escape.
'There is no culture in Russia… there is no politics… It's only war,' she said, decrying state censorship.
Barabash said the very concept of a 'Russian journalist' no longer made sense. 'Journalism cannot exist under totalitarianism.'
The Facebook posts that landed her in legal jeopardy were written between 2022 and 2023, lambasting Russia's actions in Ukraine.
'So you (expletive) bombed the country, razed entire cities to the ground, killed a hundred children, shot civilians for no reason, blockaded Mariupol, deprived millions of people of a normal life and forced them to leave for foreign countries? All for the sake of friendship with Ukraine?' one post read.
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