Mon May 05 16:23:56 UTC 2025: ## Russian Reporter Flees to France After Smuggling Operation
**Paris, France –** Ekaterina Barabash, a 64-year-old Russian journalist with Ukrainian heritage and a vocal critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has safely arrived in France after a daring escape orchestrated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Barabash, who faced up to 10 years imprisonment for criticizing the Russian military, spent two and a half weeks evading authorities before crossing the border on her birthday, April 26th. She removed her electronic monitoring bracelet, leaving it “somewhere in a Russian forest,” before making her escape.
Barabash, who wrote for several Russian news outlets including Radio France Internationale, had been arrested in February for social media posts deemed to discredit the Russian army. Her outspoken condemnation of the war, including a March 2022 Facebook post describing the devastation inflicted on Ukraine, led to her arrest. Days before her arrest, she wrote of her unwavering hatred for those responsible for the conflict.
RSF confirmed its involvement in the operation, stating that assisting journalists to flee Russia has become increasingly perilous since aiding Marina Ovsyannikova’s escape in 2022. Barabash is seeking political asylum in France. Her escape highlights the escalating crackdown on dissent within Russia, where criticizing the military is now a criminal offense.
First Piper 