Quotes of the Week

Week-ending 9 May 2025

“It is an immense relief to welcome Ekaterina Barabash to Paris. Her escape from Russia is one of the most perilous operations RSF has been involved in since the draconian Russian laws of March 2022. It sends a clear message to the Kremlin: free voices that dare to speak the truth about the war in Ukraine cannot be silenced. It is a message to journalists in danger: there is a way out, and RSF stands by your side. I have the deepest admiration for the moral determination and physical courage shown by Ekaterina Barabash. Her journey was long and exhausting. More than once, we feared she would be arrested — at one point we even thought she might be dead. Yet, today, she is among us, ready to testify and to resume her profession. Her message is clear: journalism no longer exists in Russia, and no journalist are safe from the Kremlin’s surveillance and repression. RSF extends its gratitude to all those who helped facilitate Ekaterina Barabash’s departure from Russia and her arrival in the European Union.

– Thibaut Bruttin, Director General of RSF

– Source: ‘RSF exfiltrates Ekaterina Barabash: the Russian journalist’s escape from Moscow to Paris,’ RSF, 5 May 2025

Background from RSF: On 5 May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) held a press conference at its headquarters to present Ekaterina Barabash to the press. The Russian journalist and film critic disappeared from Moscow, where she was under house arrest, on 21 April and is now in Paris. Exhausted but free, Ekaterina Barabash recounted her escape from the Russian authorities, who put her on their wanted list as she faced up to ten years in prison. RSF coordinated the operation and ensured her safe passage to France.

Russia’s abhorrent treatment of Viktoriia Roshchyna and her subsequent death in Russian custody require urgent investigation and underscore the need for justice for atrocities. As talks continue around ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, all actors involved in negotiations need to ensure that in line with international law, there can be no amnesty for grave crimes, and that the immediate release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians unlawfully held by Russia is prioritized. Remaining in Russian custody means facing torture and other mistreatment.

– Yulia Gorbunova, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch

– Source: ‘Torture, Death of a Ukrainian Journalist in Russian Custody,’ Human Rights Watch, 5 May 2025

Background from Yulia Gorbunova: Human Rights Watch and other groups have extensively documented enforced disappearances and torture by Russian forces during their occupation of Ukraine. We have found that Russian occupation forces in Khersonska and Zaporizka regions have arbitrarily detained, and in some cases forcibly disappeared, civilians, and unlawfully transferred many to Russian detention facilities where they were tortured. In March 2025, a United Nations investigation concluded that Russian authorities’ use of torture and enforced disappearances amount to crimes against humanity “as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to a coordinated state policy.”

“Russian authorities must drop all charges against Veronika Orlova and release her immediately. Detaining a journalist for simply filming in a public space is a blatant violation of press freedom.”

– Anna Brakha, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher

– Source: ‘Russian journalist sentenced to 13 days administrative detention after filming anti-Putin protest,’ CPJ, 9 May 2025

Background from CPJ: Orlova, a reporter with the independent news outlet SOTAvision, was in Moscow to cover a Supreme Court hearing and was walking near Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge when she began filming a rescue boat where activist Grigory Saksonov was earlier detained after jumping into the river with a sign that read “Putin–Hitler.” The police detained her 15 minutes later. 

“The fact that Russia has left the Council of Europe is a major loss for the country — especially the loss of such an important mechanism as the European Court of Human Rights. For more than two decades, Russians had gotten used to the idea that even if they couldn’t find justice at home, they could still turn to an international court whose rulings were binding for Russia. The very existence of this mechanism significantly supported human rights and the rule of law in the country.”

– Karinna Moskalenko, Russian human rights lawyer

– Source: Anastasia Tenisheva, ‘With Access to Europe’s Rights Court Lost, How Can Russians Still Seek Justice on the International Stage?’ The Moscow Times, 5 May 2025

Background from The Moscow Times: Karinna Moskalenko is a prominent Russian human rights lawyer known for defending journalists, activists and opposition politicians. She has decades of experience working with international human rights institutions and is widely recognized for her efforts to protect freedom of expression and civil liberties. […] Since 2024, she has been working as the head of the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus. The Moscow Times spoke with Moskalenko about the international mechanisms still available to Russian citizens and her current human rights mission in Belarus.