Russia accuses top CNN reporter of illegally crossing border

Russian authorities said Thursday they are probing a CNN reporter and two Ukrainian journalists for “illegally” crossing the border.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has opened criminal cases against British journalist Nick Paton Walsh from CNN and Ukrainian correspondents Olesya Borovik and Diana Butsko “who illegally crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and filmed in the area of ​​the settlement of Sudzha in the Kursk region,” it said in a statement.
“In the near future, they will be put on the international wanted list,” the FSB added.
Ukrainian forces seized more than 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk region in a surprise offensive earlier this month.
Paton Walsh, CNN’s chief international security correspondent, reported from the Ukraine-controlled Russian town of Sudzha last week, according to a report and video published by the America media outlet.
Last week, the FSB also opened a criminal case against journalists Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini from Italian broadcaster RAI for crossing into Sudzha, it said.
A CNN spokesperson said: “Our team was invited by the Ukrainian government, along with other international journalists, and escorted by the Ukrainian military to view territory it had recently occupied. This is protected activity in accordance with the rights afforded to journalists under the Geneva Convention and international law.”