Russian authorities have charged CNN's chief international security correspondent with illegally crossing the state border, after he reported from the Ukrainian-held town of Sudzha. Similar charges have been brought against two journalists working for the Italian broadcaster RAI as well as two Ukrainian reporters.
Kiev’s forces overran Sudzha, which had a pre-conflict population of 5,000, during their incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, which began on August 6. Although many residents have fled the area, some civilians remain.
Nick Paton Walsh was part of a team of Western reporters who arrived in Sudzha at the invitation of the Ukrainian government. They traveled in an armored convoy with Ukrainian soldiers, filmed damaged buildings in the center of the community and spoke to Russian civilians, some of whom were taking refuge in a shelter.
According to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, the Ukrainian military “accompanied” Walsh and reviewed the videos his crew filmed prior to their release “for operational security reasons.” The Ukrainians “had no editorial control” over CNN’s reporting, he claimed.
CNN has rejected Moscow’s accusation, insisting that the channel “has delivered factual, impartial reporting covering both the Ukrainian and Russian perspectives on the war.” It said that Walsh had acted “in accordance with the rights afforded to journalists under the Geneva Convention and international law.”
Moscow has accused Western reporters who crossed the border of providing “propaganda” on behalf of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued this week that foreign journalists embedded with Ukrainian troops were staying silent about “Kiev’s crimes against civilians” and “manipulating public opinion.”
According to Russian officials, at least 31 civilians have been killed and 143 wounded during Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk Region.
Since 2022, the EU has banned several Russian news organizations, including RT, accusing them of “systematic information manipulation” in connection to the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has responded by banning dozens of Western news outlets.