Screenshot/CNN
A CNN reporter is on an international wanted list after Russia’s domestic intelligence service FSB accused him of recently illegally crossing the border into Ukraine.
Reuters reported that the FSB – the successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB – accused CNN’s chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh of filming in the country after crossing the Kursk region. Reuters reported:
The Russian secret service FSB announced on Thursday that it had opened a criminal case against a journalist working for CNN. He is alleged to have illegally crossed the Russian border after crossing the Ukrainian border to film a report in the Kursk region. The FSB named the journalist as Nick Paton Walsh, a British citizen who works as a senior international security correspondent for CNN. Moscow had banned him from entering Russian territory as part of its confrontation with the West.
The FSB said it was also investigating two Ukrainian journalists – Diana Butsko And Olesya Borovik – on similar charges.
According to Reuters, all three journalists face up to five years in a Russian prison and will soon be issued with international arrest warrants.
CNN defended Walsh, Butsko and Borovik in a statement posted on the network’s website.
“Throughout the conflict, our team has provided factual, impartial reporting covering both the Ukrainian and Russian perspectives on the war,” CNN said. “Our team was invited by the Ukrainian government, along with other international journalists, and escorted by the Ukrainian military to tour the recently occupied territory. This is a protected activity in line with the rights afforded to journalists under the Geneva Convention and international law.”
CNN also reported that the trio would be placed on an “international wanted list,” but the FSB did not provide any information on which list it was.
According to the network, Walsh has won several Emmy Awards since joining CNN in 2011. He was in Ukraine in February 2022 when Russia invaded and in Kabul in 2021 when U.S. forces officially withdrew from Afghanistan.
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