Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash was placed under two months’ house arrest on February 26, 2025, on charges of spreading fake news. She fled the country April 13 and was exfiltrated to France by the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
On February 25, the Ukrainian-born Barabash, a film critic for the independent outlet Republic, was detained and charged with spreading “fake” news. The following day, a Moscow court placed her under two months’ house arrest ahead of her trial. Barabash’s reporting frequently has a political and anti-war stance.
The charges against Barabash stem from four Facebook posts in 2022 and 2023, three of which have since been removed. In the fourth post, she condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—a recurring theme in her commentary.
“While under house arrest, she is not allowed to publish anything or communicate via social media or a phone,” her son Yury Barabash told CPJ, adding that he believed the charges were “politically motivated” and linked to “her social media or/and her professional activities.”
CPJ did not receive a response to its February 2025 request for comment sent to the Moscow branch of the Russian Investigative Committee, a federal body in charge of investigating crimes, via its website.