Kiev bars Ukrainian-born RT journalist at border, bans her entry for 3 yrs
An RT Deutsch correspondent, who has recently covered stories on the Ukrainian crisis, including the Odessa massacre, has been turned back at the border by Ukraine’s Security Service, and banned from entering the country for three years.
READ MORE: Moscow slams Kiev for ‘information war’ over 100+ Russian media ban list
Anna Shalimova, who was born in Ukraine and is now a German
citizen working for RT’s German bureau, RT Deutsch, was prevented
from entering Ukraine upon arrival at Borispol airport.
The RT correspondent had just arrived in Ukraine from Germany to
write a story on the social and economic situation in Kiev, when
she was stopped at the airport passport control. The journalist
was given a document from the Ukrainian Security Service, banning
her from entering the country for three years. She was forced to
return to Germany without ever crossing the transit zone.
#SBU verhängt 3jähriges Einreiseverbot in #Ukraine gegen mich ohne Angabe von Gründen. pic.twitter.com/rrAF08Dved
— aschalimowa (@anna_schalimowa) May 22, 2015
“We have informed the German embassy. This is an obvious consequence of her reports from Odessa, covering the first anniversary of last May’s tragedy there,” RT Deutsch chief editor Ivan Rodionov said.
READ MORE: Kiev is making no ‘tangible steps’ to
investigate Odessa massacre – Moscow
Anna Shalimova visited Odessa less than three weeks ago to report
on the May 2014 massacre, in which more than 40 anti-government
protesters either burned alive or suffocated from smoke
inhalation in an administrative building which had been set
ablaze, or were strangled and beaten to death by a violent mob if
they managed to escape.
The circumstances surrounding the clashes that led to the tragedy
remain highly controversial. Ukrainian authorities blame
anti-Maidan activists for starting the violence, while numerous
investigations posted online claim to provide evidence of a
planned provocation by pro-Kiev thugs and football ultras,
allegedly coordinated with the police. The official investigation
into the May 2 events has stalled.
Shalimova did not have any problems crossing the border when she
came to report on Odessa earlier in May, RT’s press service said.
READ MORE: ‘Freedom of speech in Russia, not here!’ German TV mocks Western media’s Ukraine coverage
