Russian journalist who escaped house arrest in Moscow reappears in Paris after a brutal journey

PARIS — Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash resurfaced in Paris Monday following an escape from Moscow last month after being put under house arrest and facing a 10-year prison sentence for posts condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF, said it helped Barabash orchestrate her getaway: She tore off her electronic monitoring tag and ''traveled over 2,800 kilometers (some 1,700 miles) using clandestine routes'' to evade surveillance.

''Her escape was one of the most perilous operations RSF has been involved in since Russia's draconian laws of March 2022,'' said the group's director, Thibaut Bruttin, during a press conference with Barabash at RSF's Paris headquarters. ''At one point, we thought she might be dead.''

Days after invading Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian authorities adopted legislation that outlawed any public expression about the war that went against the official government narrative.

‘It's only war'

Barabash, 63, condemned on Monday the lack of freedoms in Russia while detailing her escape.

''There is no culture in Russia… there is no politics… It's only war,'' she said, decrying state censorship.

Barabash said the very concept of a ''Russian journalist'' no longer made sense. ''Journalism cannot exist under totalitarianism.''

The Facebook posts that landed her in legal jeopardy were written between 2022 and 2023, lambasting Russia's actions in Ukraine.

''So you (expletive) bombed the country, razed entire cities to the ground, killed a hundred children, shot civilians for no reason, blockaded Mariupol, deprived millions of people of a normal life and forced them to leave for foreign countries? All for the sake of friendship with Ukraine?'' one post read.

Russian authorities arrested the veteran journalist and film critic, born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, upon her return from the Berlinale film festival in February. She was charged with spreading ''false information'' about Russia's military, and branded a ''foreign agent.''

Barabash was then put under house arrest.

On April 21, she disappeared.

The getaway begins

Barabash said she crossed multiple borders, using covert channels coordinated by RSF, and spent two weeks in hiding and then she reached France on April 26, her birthday.

The hardest part was her inability to contact her 96-year-old mother, whom she had to leave behind.

''I just understood that I'd never see her,'' Barabash said, adding they both decided that not seeing her while being free was better than a Russian prison.

Barabash's son and grandson remain in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. She hasn't been able to see them since the war started because ''I have a Russian passport,'' she said.

Barabash thanked many people and the RSF team for helping her gain freedom. Their identities were kept confidential for their protection.

A new life in France?

The former Radio France Internationale contributor, who later worked with independent outlet Republic, hopes to seek asylum and resume work with exiled Russian-language media. She does not yet have a French work permit, but RSF says she holds a six-month visa and is in the process of regularizing her status.

''Now I'm here and I think it will not be (an) easy way to begin (a) new life. I'm not very young," she said.

The journalists' exodus from Russia

Barabash joins a growing wave of Russian journalists in exile — more than 90 media outlets have fled to the European Union and neighboring countries since the war began, according to RSF, which ranks Russia 171st out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index.

Barabash told The Associated Press that, for her, a Russian prison was ''worse than death.''

''If you want to be a journalist, you have to (live in) exile," she said. If you want (to) stay in Russia as a journalist, you are not a journalist. That is it.''

At least 38 journalists remain imprisoned in Russia, said the media freedom group.

Thousands of Russians have been swept up in Russia's crackdown against dissent over the war, including journalists. According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that tracks political arrests, 1,240 people in Russia and annexed Crimea have faced charges because of their antiwar stance, and 389 are in custody right now.

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Associated Press journalists Jeffrey Schaeffer and Alex Turnbull in Paris and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report