The Russian Federal Security Service (FSS ) announced that it had opened a criminal case against Italian journalists for illegally crossing the border in the Kursk region, TASS reported, BTA writes.
"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case and is conducting an investigation under point 3 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal crossing of the state border of the Russian Federation) against foreign journalists Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini, who illegally crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and made video recordings on the territory of Suja, Kursk Region", reads the FSS press release.
"A legal evaluation of materials distributed in the media, testifying to the presence of a foreign correspondent (journalist from CNN - note TASS) Nick Peyton Walsh on the territory of the Russian checkpoint "Suja", writes more in the text.
Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with a television report from the Ukrainian-controlled parts of Russia's Kursk region will return to Italy, state broadcaster RAI said today, as quoted by Reuters. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador yesterday in connection with an "illegal crossing of the border" from the RAI team.
„The company decided to temporarily return journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini to Italy to ensure their personal safety”, RAI reported. Base, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement, had reported that the Interior Ministry in Moscow planned to open criminal cases against the two journalists.
A four-man RAI team working with a Ukrainian military escort filmed the first foreign media report from the war-torn Russian city of Suja, captured last week during Ukraine's invasion of Kursk Oblast.
The two reporters are due to fly back to the Italian city of Milan tomorrow. Italy's foreign ministry said its ambassador, Cecilia Piccioni, had explained to Russian authorities that RAI and its news teams operate independently and autonomously. "Journalism is not a crime. The possibility of the Moscow authorities filing a case against Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini is unacceptable. Reports from the scene are not based on prior authorization, the RAI union and Italy's national press union said.