PARIS (AP) 鈥 Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash resurfaced in Paris Monday following a daring escape from Moscow last month after being put under house arrest and facing a 10-year prison sentence for posts condemning Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF, said it helped Barabash orchestrate her adrenaline-packed getaway: The outspoken war critic tore off her electronic monitoring tag and 鈥渢ravelled over 2,800 kilometres (about 1739 miles) using clandestine routes鈥 to evade surveillance.
鈥淗er escape was one of the most perilous operations RSF has been involved in since Russia鈥檚 draconian laws of March 2022,鈥 said the group’s Director General Thibaut Bruttin during a press conference with Barabash at RSF’s headquarters in Paris. 鈥淎t one point, we thought she might be dead.鈥
鈥業t’s only war’
Barabash, 63, vehemently condemned on Monday while detailing her escape.
鈥淭here is no culture in Russia鈥 there is no politics鈥 It鈥檚 only war,鈥 she said, adding that those unwilling to submit to p either lived in exile or were imprisoned.
Barabash said the very concept of a 鈥淩ussian journalist鈥 no longer made sense. 鈥淭here are no Russian journalists,鈥 she said. 鈥淛ournalism cannot exist under totalitarianism.鈥
The Facebook posts that landed her in legal jeopardy were written between 2022 and 2023, lambasting Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
鈥淪o 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?鈥 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 鈥渇ake news鈥 about Russia’s military, and branded a 鈥渇oreign agent.鈥
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 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.
鈥淚 just understood that. I鈥檇 never see her,鈥 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 鈥淚 have a Russian passport,鈥 she said.
Still, her spirits remained undefeated.
Brutin, RSF’s director, said during Barabash’s escape, “she sang George Brassens.鈥
Barabash thanked the “many people” and the RSF team for helping her gain freedom. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know their names,鈥 she said.
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.
鈥淣ow I鈥檓 here and I think it will not be (an) easy way to begin (a) new life. I鈥檓 not very young. I鈥檓 young ... but not very,” she said in a self-deprecating way.
The journalists’ exodus from Russia
Barabash joins a growing wave of Russian journalists in exile 鈥 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.
After the press conference, Barabash told The Associated Press that for her, a Russian prison was 鈥渨orse than death.鈥
鈥淚f 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. It鈥檚 very simple.鈥
At least 38 journalists remain imprisoned in Russia, and independent reporting is functionally extinct inside the country, said the media freedom group.
Still, RSF鈥檚 Bruttin said: 鈥淔ree voices that dare to speak the truth about the war in Ukraine cannot be silenced.鈥
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Associated Press journalists Jeffrey Schaeffer and Alex Turnbull in Paris and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, Britain, contributed to this report
