Targeted by the FSB

Putin’s secret service investigates CNN reporter

After Ukrainian troops invaded the Russian region of Kursk, foreign journalists were led through captured villages. The FSB is investigating.(Bild: APA/AFP/Kommersant Photo/ANATOLIY ZHDANOV)

The Russian domestic intelligence service FSB is investigating a reporter from the US broadcaster CNN for reporting from Russian territories occupied by Ukraine. The journalist, who comes from the UK, had crossed the border illegally, the FSB explained.

Two Ukrainian press representatives are also being investigated on the same charges. The three journalists face up to five years in prison in Russia. The FSB announced that it would soon issue international arrest warrants.

There was initially no comment from CNN. Last week, the broadcaster aired a report from Sudzha in the Russian region of Kursk. The city is under the control of Ukrainian troops.

US diplomats summoned
At the beginning of the week, the government in Moscow summoned a US diplomat to protest against reporting by American journalists in Kursk. Last week, the Italian broadcaster RAI ordered two reporters back home who had also reported from Kursk and against whom the FSB had launched an investigation.

Only recently, the US journalist Evan Gershkovich was able to return home from Russian custody as part of a prisoner exchange. He had been sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged espionage. Russia threatens journalists with penalties for "discrediting" its armed forces. Last year, the maximum sentence for these cases was increased from five to 15 years.