Russia’s months-long jailing of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva — released on August 1 as part of a prisoner exchange — was one of the most blatant illustrations of Russia’s muzzling of the press in the wake of its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
While practicing journalism in Russia has long been difficult, new analysis published Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found the government has stepped up efforts to quash the work of the media by passing new anti-press laws, amending others, and expanding censorship efforts.
The war has precipitated what a representative of the now-shuttered Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) — speaking anonymously due to security concerns — calls the “biggest press freedom crisis in Russia’s recent history.”
Advocates estimate that hundreds of Russian journalists have fled into exile, where some continue to face transnational repression such as arrest warrants and jail terms in absentia. Those who remain are under heavy scrutiny as independent reporting hangs on by a thread.
Read CPJ’s analysis of Russia’s crackdown on reporting about its war in Ukraine.
