On 25 August 2024, Russian writer Marina Akhmedova, who is a member of Russia’s Human Rights Council, a body which advises the President of Russia, called for strikes on journalists who visited the Russian town of Sudzha following its occupation by Ukrainian forces. Akhmedova made the statements on her Telegram channel.
In her publication, she wrote: “A journalist who is on the same side of the conflict can come [together] with [their] army. That is, as a rule, a war correspondent whose country is at war. A Ukrainian war correspondent could [have come with the Ukrainian army]. A Russian war correspondent can come with our army to (…) territories [occupied by Russia]. But what are the media, which position themselves as independent doing there? They serve one of the sides [of the conflict] and, like mercenaries, violate [international] law. But the main thing is that this cancels the journalist’s immunity. Since they are not independent, why take any precautions with them?”
The comments by Akhmedova came amidst a Ukrainian military offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, in the course of which Ukraine captured several settlements near its border. Ukrainian and international journalists later arrived to the area to report on the situation. Several days earlier, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) initiated criminal proceedings against two Italian journalists who reported from Sudzha.
UPDATE: On 27 August 2024, Akhmedova also called upon Russian authorities to initiate criminal proceedings against Ruslan Terekhov and Petr Ivanov, two journalists with independent Russian outlet SOTA, who announced plans to film a report from Sudzha. Akhmedova was seconded in her call by another member of Russia’s Human Rights Council, Kirill Kabanov.