Marion Gauthier edited by Wassila Belhacine 08:23, May 03, 2022

Tuesday, May 3 is World Press Freedom Day.

According to Reporters Without Borders, 50 journalists and media collaborators were killed in the course of their work in 2021. In Russia, since the start of the war in Ukraine, many Russian journalists have decided to flee their country to continue inform.

On this World Press Freedom Day, Europe 1 looks this morning at the fate of Russian journalists, more than ever muzzled since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin's regime imposes its reading of the war on the population.

Thus, the conflict in Ukraine is described as "special operations" by Moscow.

Anyone who does not respect this account runs the risk of being taken to prison.

Independent media and social networks were blocked by the authorities.

So, faced with repression, many Russian journalists fled their country to continue reporting from afar.

“There is a need for independent information” 

"We said goodbye to everyone live. We cried. The emotion was unbearable," says Denis Kataief.

Hair in disarray, glasses askew, he appears serene in a Parisian café.

The elegant thirty-year-old shows an excerpt from his last show in Russia, his channel then had 25 million viewers.

"There is a need for independent information. We left to continue working because it is our responsibility as a journalist", he continues at the microphone of Europe 1. He fled his country for France.

On the fourth day of the war, its editor, Tikhon Tzako, left for Georgia.

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"At the start of the war, the Russian government announced that the real information was only disseminated by the Ministry of Defense. It's censorship", explains Tikhon Tzako.

Telegram and Youtube to inform 

So in order not to be silent, Tikhon Zlatko creates news channels on encrypted Telegram messaging or broadcasts newspapers on YouTube.

"There are a lot of people in Russia who don't understand what is happening in Ukraine and this is a great tragedy for me," adds Tikhon Zlatko.

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They are more than 180,000 to have subscribed to his new account.

A good start as these new media can be hard to find on Russian soil.