Inline with news broadcast today in Russia by the online news outlet Baza, belonging to the Russian Telegram platform, and with wide repercussions in Italy, “the Russian Ministry of the Interior intends to initiate criminal proceedings against Italian journalists who reported in the Kursk region”, for “unlawful crossing of the state border”.

The journalists in question, Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, follow the advance of Ukrainian forces on Russian territory, having reported in the city of Sudzha, in the Kursk region, broadcast on RAI’s main news program.

Sources from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs questioned by the Italian press indicated that there is no confirmation by the Moscow section of its intention to prosecute the journalists, indicating that the Italian embassy in the Russian capital is “carrying out the necessary checks” and in close contact with Rome.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, also confronted by the Italian press with the news of possible criminal complaints against RAI journalists, declined to confirm the text of them, but made a point of “reminding foreign correspondents of the urgency of respecting the rules of stay on the territory of the Russian Federation”.

⇒ Unexpected offensive on Russian territory.

Ukraine has been carrying out an unexpected offensive on Russian territory, in the Kursk border region, having claimed control of 82 localities and 1,150 km2 on Thursday, in agreement with the commander of the Kiev General Staff, Oleksandr Syrsky.

“In total, since the beginning of operations in the Kursk region, our troops have advanced 35 kilometers in depth,” the military official said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, adding: “We have taken control of 1,150 km2 of territory and 82 localities.”

Zelensky reported, for his part, that Ukrainian forces have taken full control of the town of Sudzha, in the Kursk region, an occupation portrayed in the RAI report, while the Kremlin (Russian presidency) accuses the West of helping Kiev in this invasion on Russian soil.

Ukraine has described financial and armed aid from Western allies since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.

Kiev’s allies have also enacted sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy to try to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort in Ukraine.