Latest news with #Ekaterina
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Russian reporter facing jail says RSF smuggled her to France
Pro-Ukrainian journalist said she escaped in and fled to Paris with the help of ( ). She was facing up to 10 years in prison for criticizing the army. Ekaterina , a critical of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said on Monday that she fled to France after Reporters Without Borders (RSF) smuggled her out of Russia. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "I fled — I had no other choice. Journalism no longer exists in Russia," Ukrainian-born Barabash, who faces up to 10 years in prison for criticizing the Russian army, told a news conference at the media watchdog's headquarters in Paris. "There is no culture in Russia. There is no politics. It's only war," she said, adding that the very concept of a "Russian journalist" no longer made sense. "There are no Russian journalists," she said. "Journalism cannot exist under totalitarianism." Barabash said her journey was "very difficult" and lasted around two-and-a-half weeks. "I arrived three days ago," she said, adding that she was going to ask for political asylum. RSF sends a message to the Kremlin RSF director general Thibaut Bruttin said Barabash's escape from Russia was "one of the most perilous operations" the RSF has been involved in since Russia's brutal clampdown on media in March 2022. "At one point, we thought she might be dead," he said. In Russia, it is broadly forbidden to criticize the army and its military operations in Ukraine. Bruttin said that Barabash's escape "sends a clear message to the Kremlin: free voices that dare to speak the truth about the war in Ukraine cannot be silenced. It is a message to journalists in danger: there is a way out, and RSF stands by your side," he added in a statement. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In April, two former DW journalists, Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin, along with two other journalists, were sentenced to several years in prison in Russia on charges of extremism, that they denied. What do we know about Barabash and her arrest? Ekaterina Barabash had written for several Russian news outlets and worked as a journalist for the Russian service of Radio France Internationale (RFI) until 2022, before joining the independent media outlet Republic. She was detained at Moscow airport on February 25 as she was returning from the Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin. The authorities charged her with "spreading false information" about the Russian military based on four social media posts, one of which condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The following day, a Moscow court ordered her to be placed under house arrest for two months. On April 4, the Russian Ministry of Justice labeled Barabash as a "foreign agent." This designation allows the authorities to monitor, restrict, and discredit journalists, NGOs, and ordinary citizens who are deemed to be "influenced by foreign interests." Deutsche Welle is also labeled a "foreign agent" in Russia. Journalist flees house arrest Russian authorities were alerted to Barabash's disappearance by an electronic monitoring system on April 13. Barabash said she removed her bracelet when she fled. "It's somewhere in the Russian forest," she said, smiling. The reporter said she crossed the border on her birthday on April 26. and had been "hiding for two weeks" during her escape. Fleeing house arrest is risky in Russia, but not unheard of. Former Russian state television journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who protested the Ukraine conflict in a live broadcast, fled Russia in 2022 after escaping house arrest. RSF ranks Russia 171st out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
Khaleej Times
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Russians speak of nerves and hope for peace as they shelter in Kursk
Andrey Klimenko hiccups and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. "It's nerves," he says at a temporary refuge for people displaced by the fighting in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine launched a shock ground assault into the border region last August, capturing swathes of territory and dozens of villages. But in the past two weeks Kyiv has lost its grip in Kursk, ceding ground as Moscow prosecutes an intense counter offensive. "Planes were dropping bombs near my vegetable patch. I nearly died because of bombs, mortar fire and drones," said 52-year-old Klimenko, a Russian sporting several gold teeth. "God took pity on me and I survived by a miracle." Klimenko left his home in the village of Zamostye near the Ukrainian border on Friday as Russian forces pushed to recapture land occupied by Ukraine since last year. The Ukrainian offensive was a response to Russia's campaign against the country launched three years ago. Hundreds of inhabitants have fled the fighting in recent days as Russian forces have re-taken a string of villages and the key town of Sudzha. Several dozen displaced people are being housed in a sports complex in Fatezh, 50 km north of Kursk, the regional capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the area to lay down their weapons, while his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky has denied his troops are surrounded. Since Wednesday "371 people have been evacuated from liberated areas, including 14 children," according to the region's interim governor, Alexander Khinshtein. At the Fatezh sports complex, Elena, her daughter Ekaterina and grandson Egor have also sought shelter. Elena, 63, said she had been given a blood pressure monitor by the Russian Red Cross, which is helping displaced people in the Kursk region. "I've got high blood pressure," she says, putting her index finger to her forehead as if pointing to the worries that are weighing her down. The family arrived from Sudzha on Friday after being evacuated by the Russian army. Elena's husband Nikolai is missing. His family have had no news of him since the beginning of the Kursk offensive last summer when they were moving from point to point in the Ukrainian-controlled area. "Maybe he got scared and crawled away to hide. He's probably dead," said Ekaterina, 35, his daughter. Nikolai is one of many missing. In mid-February, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was working on some 50,000 cases of missing persons, both civilians and combatants, on both sides. "I don't understand what the point of this war is," Ekaterina said. The fighting has left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians dead or wounded in the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. She said the family had been "treated well" by Ukrainian soldiers. "We're really looking forward to peace, because we feel sorry for the Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian soldiers and everyone else," she said. Suddenly, a robotic voice from a loudspeaker nearby blasts an announcement for the village. "The air raid alert is now over," it said even though no initial air raid alert had been given. The military situation in the Kursk region is a key issue at a time of intensive international diplomacy to try and put an end to the conflict. Putin, who is to hold talks with US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, has said he is not opposed to the 30-day truce proposed by the United States and backed by Ukraine. The next steps may well depend on the liberation of this Russian border region that was, during World War II, the scene of the largest tank battle in history. That battle, on August 23, 1943, ended in a Soviet victory over Nazi troops.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russians speak of nerves and hope for peace as they shelter in Kursk
Andrey Klimenko hiccups and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. "It's nerves," he says at a temporary refuge for people displaced by the fighting in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine launched a shock ground assault into the border region last August, capturing swathes of territory and dozens of villages. But in the past two weeks Kyiv has lost its grip in Kursk, ceding ground as Moscow prosecutes an intense counter offensive. "Planes were dropping bombs near my vegetable patch. I nearly died because of bombs, mortar fire and drones," said 52-year-old Klimenko, a Russian sporting several gold teeth. "God took pity on me and I survived by a miracle." Klimenko left his home in the village of Zamostye near the Ukrainian border on Friday as Russian forces pushed to recapture land occupied by Ukraine since last year. The Ukrainian offensive was a response to Russia's campaign against the country launched three years ago. Hundreds of inhabitants have fled the fighting in recent days as Russian forces have re-taken a string of villages and the key town of Sudzha. Several dozen displaced people are being housed in a sports complex in Fatezh, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kursk, the regional capital. - 'Probably dead' - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the area to lay down their weapons, while his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky has denied his troops are surrounded. Since Wednesday "371 people have been evacuated from liberated areas, including 14 children," according to the region's interim governor, Alexander Khinshtein. At the Fatezh sports complex, Elena, her daughter Ekaterina and grandson Egor have also sought shelter. Elena, 63, said she had been given a blood pressure monitor by the Russian Red Cross, which is helping displaced people in the Kursk region. "I've got high blood pressure," she says, putting her index finger to her forehead as if pointing to the worries that are weighing her down. The family arrived from Sudzha on Friday after being evacuated by the Russian army. Elena's husband Nikolai is missing. His family have had no news of him since the beginning of the Kursk offensive last summer when they were moving from point to point in the Ukrainian-controlled area. "Maybe he got scared and crawled away to hide. He's probably dead," said Ekaterina, 35, his daughter. Nikolai is one of many missing. In mid-February, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was working on some 50,000 cases of missing persons, both civilians and combatants, on both sides. - 'Feel sorry' - "I don't understand what the point of this war is," Ekaterina said. The fighting has left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians dead or wounded in the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. She said the family had been "treated well" by Ukrainian soldiers. "We're really looking forward to peace, because we feel sorry for the Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian soldiers and everyone else," she said. Suddenly, a robotic voice from a loudspeaker nearby blasts an announcement for the village. "The air raid alert is now over," it said -- even though no initial air raid alert had been given. The military situation in the Kursk region is a key issue at a time of intensive international diplomacy to try and put an end to the conflict. Putin, who is to hold talks with US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, has said he is not opposed to the 30-day truce proposed by the United States and backed by Ukraine. The next steps may well depend on the liberation of this Russian border region that was, during World War II, the scene of the largest tank battle in history. That battle, on August 23, 1943, ended in a Soviet victory over Nazi troops. bur/dt/rmb
