At the end of 2021, Russian journalist Taisia Bekbulatova decided to leave her country. Vladimir Putin’s government had declared her a “foreign agent” because of her critical reporting — even though she was born and raised in Russia. At age 31, the founder of the independent website Holod then moved to neighboring Georgia and continued her work there.
Bekbulatova didn’t know, but behind them would come a crowd. At the same time that it invaded Ukraine, Russia was tightening the siege against the free press in its country. In search of safety, much of the independent media left the territory. According to CPJ (New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists) there were more than 150 in the first weeks of the war.
The press was already at its limit in Russia, after years of censorship and threats to journalists — see Bekbulatova’s own departure, before the war broke out. But the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the passage on the 4th of a law punishing what Putin’s government calls “fake news” about the invasion. That is, information you disagree with.
The Kremlin also doesn’t want journalists to call the war a war: the term used by state media is special military operation. Penalties can reach 15 years in prison for those who “defame” the Armed Forces.
Like Bekbulatova, other Russian reporters are temporarily settling in former Soviet republics. In addition to Georgia, they have chosen places like Armenia, Lithuania and Latvia. The exodus not only includes journalists, but also intellectuals, artists and dissidents.
As the situation worsened, Bekbulatova withdrew her team of about 15 people from Russia. They are now spread out in four places and are trying to coordinate their coverage to keep working. The goal is to bring everyone together in the same country and set up a new newsroom.
“We don’t want to stop our activity now because this is very important for the country. We want to fight government propaganda. If it weren’t for the independent media, the Russian population would only have access to news published by government media.”
Being out of Russia, however, does not solve all problems. Moscow has blocked critical news sites, and accessing them requires using tools like VPN — which in a way allows a user to “pretend” to be somewhere else and thus bypass access restrictions.
Not everyone can navigate these unofficial paths, however. As a result, Russia is experiencing what CPJ recently called the “dark age of information.” The Kremlin is locked in a dispute with what it considers suspicious foreign agents, like all big tech. The war made things worse.
Another issue in the conflict is that economic sanctions imposed by countries like the United States, in theory to retaliate against the government, have made it impossible for journalists and dissidents abroad. “These sanctions should hit Putin and his friends, but they are making our lives difficult. We cannot withdraw money from the bank, use our credit cards. We are not rich. This is a huge problem.”
Foreign organizations have tried to help in this regard. RSF (Reporters Without Borders), for example, created an alternative address — known as a “mirror” in Internet parlance — for people in Russia to access the independent website Meduza, which was blocked by the Kremlin.
Meduza employees are now in Latvia after being classified as “foreign agents”. Russia was ranked 150th out of 180 countries in the 2021 RSF press freedom rankings — Brazil was 111th.
Escaping the country and settling elsewhere is, of course, not feasible for everyone. Several independent outlets — such as Moscow’s historic Eco radio — ended up closing.
“Russian TV is telling people that there is no war. It is a special operation against Nazi warriors in Ukraine and that Ukrainians are happy to receive Russian soldiers,” says Bekbulatova. “If you live in a village in the countryside, you can easily be fooled by official propaganda.”
Journalists try to rebuild their lives in exile. The process includes logistical, financial and emotional hurdles, but there is also constant concern about the safety of him and his family members in Russia.
THE sheet spoke with a reporter from Mediazona, one of the most influential independent vehicles in the country. The journalist asked that his name not be published to avoid reprisals.
Mediazona has about 30 reporters, and almost all of them have left the country in recent weeks. One of them was traveling in Armenia when the war started — and he was afraid to go back. In the past, he explains, there was a kind of boundary between the government and the press, a boundary that the Kremlin did not dare cross. The feeling now, however, is that anything is possible, including prison and death.
The Mediazona reporter says it has been difficult to find apartments for rent in Armenia. The country did not expect the wave of refugees that would suddenly arrive — journalists and also other young intellectuals who fear for their future in a more authoritarian Russia. But the reporter insists not to complain and insists during the interview that his problems are insignificant compared to what Ukrainians live today, under the invasion of Russia.
He says he could have stayed in our country and accepted the rules of the game, but that would have been unbearable. According to him, even historians will not know what happened if the press stopped working.
