The 64-year-old has been one of the few Russian journalists who have dared to write about the Russian warfare in Ukraine. That’s what AFP writes. In 2022, she wrote that Russia “had bombed the country” and that they had “demolished cities to the ground”. She has written for several media, including for the Russian pages of Radio France International (RFI). Was going to court in February this year, she was arrested, accused of spreading “false information” on social media about the Russian military. Ekaterina Barabash was put in house arrest with an electronic foot link pending being brought to court. She risked being imprisoned for ten years and was added to the list of “foreign agents”. She says she began to think about suicide to avoid being jailed. – I started to look for married. Russian prisons, there is no life. It’s worse than death, she says. On April 21, the trial against her was to start, but she did not show up. Neither Russian authorities nor international media knew where she was. Ekaterina Barabash told at a press conference in Paris about the dramatic escape. Photo: AP appeared in Paris first Monday this week, the world learned where Barabash was and what had happened to her. At a press conference with reporters without boarders (RSF) – journalists without boundaries – she told her story. Both Barabash and RSF are careful about providing details about the escape. Others may want to escape with the same route. She says she tore off her foot link early during the escape. “It’s a place in the Russian forests,” she says. Barabash says many people helped her on the road to freedom. But in the most dramatic moments, she only had herself. – I crossed all the boundaries alone, she says. Thought she was dead-it has been a long and tiring journey, says the RSF boss Thibaut Gross about the escape. Photo: AFP RSF boss Thibaut Bruttin praised Barabash for her toughness. He says that they had to change the plans several times during the escape. – Several times we thought she had been arrested or in danger of being arrested. Once we thought she was dead, says Gross. He says the escape is a “message of hope” for Russian journalists. In the RSF’s latest press freedom index, Russia is in 171th place of 180 countries. At least 38 journalists imprisoned in the country. Norway is at the top of the list. Marina Ovsnanikova held up a poster with a protest against the war during a live broadcast in 2022. Among other things, they helped Marina Ovsjannikova. She became world famous when she protested against the war during a direct TV broadcast in 2022. Gross says it has become more difficult to help journalists out of the country. – There is no need to despair. There are no of course. RSF is ready to help everyone who represents independent journalism, he says. Published 08.05.2025, at. 16.02
ttn-69
