Moscow charges CNN journalist with illegal border crossing

Nick Paton Walsh had traveled to the Russian city of Sudzha with Ukrainian troops

The Russian authorities have charged CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh with illegally crossing the state border while reporting from the Ukrainian-held city of Sudzha. Similar charges were previously brought against two journalists with the Italian broadcaster RAI, and two Ukrainian reporters. 

Kiev’s forces overran Sudzha, a city with 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 in the city.

Walsh was part of the 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 city center and spoke to remaining civilians, some of whom were hiding in a shelter. 

According to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, the Ukrainian military “accompanied” Walsh and had reviewed the videos his crew filmed prior to their release “for operational security reasons.” The Ukrainians “had no editorial control” over CNN’s reporting, however, he added. 

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CNN rejected Moscow’s accusations, 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 the Western reporters of providing “propaganda” on behalf of Ukraine. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued this week that foreign reporters embedded with the Ukrainian troops were staying silent on “Kiev’s crimes against civilians” and “manipulating public opinion.” 

According to Russian officials, at least 31 civilians were killed during Ukraine’s attack on the Kursk Region and 143 were wounded.

Since 2022, the EU has banned several Russian news organizations, including RT, citing “systematic information manipulation” in connection to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Moscow responded by banning dozens of Western news outlets.