International reporting
In Turkey, Russian journalists in exile try to continue reporting from abroad
Audio 02:17
A photo of a closed on-air studio of "Radio Echo of Moscow", in Moscow, Russia on March 3, 2022. (Illustration image) © AFP
By: Anne Andlauer
3 mins
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, thousands of Russians have left their country.
Middle-class Russians, entrepreneurs, artists, but also journalists, who no longer see a future for their profession in the country of Vladimir Putin, where independent journalism is more criminalized than ever.
A small part of them stop in Turkey, from where they hope to reach Europe to continue working
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“
Suddenly we realized that our site was no longer working.
Twenty minutes later, Russian news agencies carried a dispatch saying that the sites of Dojd and
Radio Echo of Moscow
had been blocked.
Then,
says the Dojd journalist
, our security officer called us to tell us that the police could come at any time.
We didn't want to take the risk of going to prison, we left immediately.
»
In a panic, Dmitri forgets his coat, he takes the first place he finds on a flight to Istanbul.
The ticket is very expensive, but he doesn't really have a choice, Turkey is one of the rare countries which does not require a visa and which has not closed its airspace to Russian planes.
On board, he finds Valeria, a young colleague from Dojd.
To stay is to risk 15 years in prison.
“
I was at home around 8 p.m. when I learned that our site was blocked.
I cried, but I still hoped that we could still continue our broadcast on YouTube.
I never thought I would have to leave Russia so quickly.
I could envisage leaving the country one day because the situation was very bad, very tense.
But I never thought it would take me 5 minutes to buy a plane ticket
.
»
Staying in Russia for these journalists meant risking 15 years in prison.
A law makes it possible to lock up those who disseminate false information on the operation of Russian special forces in Ukraine.
The word “war” is banned.
Dojd, like other independent media, had to stop broadcasting.
Dozens of its employees have fled abroad, around twenty to Turkey.
For housing and food, they have the little cash they have been able to withdraw and the help of Turkish colleagues.
But Western sanctions are making life even more difficult for them.
A visa to a European state
Valeria complains, her bank card no longer works: "
It makes me very angry because in Russia visas and MasterCards continue to work, but for people outside Russia, those who do not support this war, those who wanted to save themselves from Putin, they can no longer use their cards.
They are punished more than some officials responsible for the situation.
»
Neither Dmitri, nor Valeria nor - they say - any of their colleagues who landed in Turkey plan to stay there.
These journalists would like a visa to a European state, not a humanitarian visa, a work visa to continue doing journalism elsewhere.
They see themselves as exiles not as refugees.
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