A court in the Kursk region arrested a CNN correspondent in absentia on charges of illegally crossing the border while filming a report in Sudzha

The Leninsky District Court of the Kursk Region arrested CNN correspondent Nick Peyton Walsh in absentia because of a report from occupied Sudzha.

The FSB border department for the Kursk region petitioned for Walsh's arrest. Previously, a criminal case was opened against him for illegal border crossing (Part 3 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code). He was also put on the interstate and international wanted list.

The court's press release states that Walsh, “with other unidentified persons, traveling from the territory of Ukraine,” entered Russia on August 6 to film a report and headed to Sudzha in an Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicle.

The arrest in absentia will take effect from the moment Walsh is detained in Russia or from the moment of extradition, the court clarified.

• After the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region, which began on August 6, Western journalists from several publications (as well as Ukrainian journalists) visited Russian territory, accompanied by Ukrainian military personnel. In particular, Nick Walsh, in a CNN report published on August 16, showed the destroyed border crossing in Sudzha, as well as cars and military equipment freely passing through it, noting that the Ukrainian military is not even afraid of drones.
• The FSB opened cases of illegal border crossing against Walsh, as well as against Italian journalists from the Rai TV channel and Ukrainian journalists Olesya Borovik and Diana Butsko, who filmed reports in Sudzha. In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian Ambassador in Moscow and the US Charge d'Affaires to express their protest. On August 17, the Rai television channel announced that it had recalled its journalists from Russia to Italy due to security concerns.