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Russia orders arrest of RAI journalists for Kursk reporting
A Russian court on Monday ordered the arrest in absentia of two Italian journalists for reporting in the Ukrainian-held part of the Kursk region.
Moscow has launched several criminal proceedings against Western journalists who had produced reports from the Kursk region after Kyiv’s surprise August incursion.
A court in the Kursk region called for the extradition to Russia and arrest of Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini, journalists from Italy’s RAI public broadcaster, for “illegally crossing” the border from Ukraine.
The court ordered the pair to be “remanded into custody” on Russian territory or “from the moment of extradition” – an unlikely event given the state of relations between Moscow and Rome.
It said they had “illegally crossed the state border of the Russian Federation” to film a report on the region’s “invasion” by Kyiv’s forces.
Russia had put the Italians and several other Western correspondents on a wanted list.
Ukrainian forces have controlled swathes of Russia’s Kursk region since their August 6 incursion.
Russia has banned criticism of its Ukraine offensive.
