Russia’s FSB accuses top CNN reporter Nick Paton Walsh and two Ukrainian journalists of “illegal border crossing” for reporting from Sudzha

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a criminal case against CNN reporter Nick Paton Walsh and Ukrainian correspondents Olesya Borovyk and Diana Butsko for illegally crossing Russia’s border. According to a report from the Russian news agency Interfax, which cited the FSB, the journalists are accused of unlawfully crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border and filming reports in the Sudzha area of the Kursk Region.

The FSB claimed that all three journalists will soon be placed on an international wanted list. The offense carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.

Nick Paton Walsh is a British journalist who is CNN’s International Security Editor. On August 16, CNN aired his report from the Russian city of Sudzha, which had been occupied by Ukrainian forces amid their ongoing operation in Kursk.

Olesya Borovyk works as a correspondent for the Ukraine TV and Radio Company in Sumy Oblast, and her story about Sudzha was a part of Ukraine’s Telemarathon broadcast on August 16. Diana Butsko is a journalist for the independent online media outlet Hromadske, which filmed a report from Sudzha that was released a day earlier.

Previously, the FSB had opened a similar case against Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, who produced the first foreign media report from Sudzha as part of a four-person crew working under Ukrainian military escort. Their report was published by the Italian public broadcaster RAI on August 14. Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador shortly after the report was made public, accusing the RAI crew of “illegal border crossing.”

In light of the criminal case, RAI decided to recall the two journalists back to Italy.

“The company decided to make journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal safety and security,” RAI said in a statement.

On August 20, the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Russia, Stephanie Holmes, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to protest the supposedly “provocative actions” of the American journalists who reported from the areas of the Kursk Region currently under Ukrainian control. The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement stressed that all foreign “specialists” and mercenaries who illegally cross the Russian border automatically become legitimate military targets of the Russian Armed Forces.

In response, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday said that independent news organizations “make their own operational and personnel decisions,” adding that “the U.S. government plays no role.”

“In fact, we actively discourage all U.S. citizens from traveling to Russia, including for reporting purposes, as we have stated in our Travel Advisory for Russia, which is currently at Level 4: Do Not Travel.”

“We were not engaged in any aspect of the planning or preparation of this operation. We refer you to the Ukrainians to speak about their own military operations,” the statement added.