Russia opens criminal case against two journalists for reporting from Kursk region under Ukrainian occupation
Russia’s Federal Security Service has opened a criminal case against two journalists who reported from Sudzha in August 2024 while the town was under Ukrainian occupation. Pyotr Ivanov and Ruslan Terekhov, who no longer reside in Russia, face charges of illegal border crossing. On July 10, 2025, police summoned Ivanov’s parents for questioning.
According to editors at Sota, where Ivanov and Terekhov work, the journalists traveled to Sudzha to report on “civilians abandoned by Russia,” not Ukraine’s military operations. “Thanks to our coverage, the relatives of many of these people were able to learn that their loved ones were alive,” the newsroom stated. Sota editors also accused journalists from Ksenia Sobchak’s media holding, as well as Presidential Human Rights Council members Marina Akhmedova and Kirill Kabanov, of filing complaints against Ivanov and Terekhov with the authorities.
According to Sota, Pyotr Ivanov, Ruslan Terekhov, and a third unnamed staff member were the only Russian journalists to visit the Kursk region while it was under Ukrainian occupation. Several Western reporters also crossed into the Ukrainian-controlled territory during the incursion, and the FSB has opened cases against some of these journalists as well.
