TRANSCRIPT
It's been a dangerous time for journalists reporting inside Russia.
With 29 journalists currently imprisoned, and 280 journalists and media organisations proclaimed "foreign agents", Russia sits almost at the bottom of the Press Freedom Index, ranked 164 out of 180.
Even for those in exile, the danger remains.
In August 2023, investigative journalist Elena Kostyuchenko revealed she had survived an alleged poisoning that was carried out in Europe.
Ms Kostyuchenko’s reports from Ukraine, during the early stages of the Russian invasion, were an attempt to show the Russian-language audience what the government was committing under their name.
Talking to SBS Russian, she explained in some ways, she feels responsible for the invasion.
"Responsibility is about the feeling of belonging. It’s mine, therefore I’m responsible for it. Of course, if we feel that Russia is our country and Russians are our people, we feel responsible for what is happening. Love doesn't always bring happiness. It can bring a lot of pain. Especially when the one you love does evil".
Ms Kostyuchenko's new book I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country was released at the end of 2023.
Her book is a compilation of her frontline reportage as a correspondent with Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s most respected investigative newspapers - and among the country's longest-running independent media outlets.
From stories of women enslaved into prostitution to a report from inside a closed psychiatric institution, Ms Kostyuchenko’s book tells a grim story of Russia.
The award-winning journalist says the memoir also documents the slow transition of Russia into an increasingly authoritarian state - what she calls a "fascist state".
She told SBS Russian, she found this difficult to come to terms with, as Russia had in the past defeated an invasion launched in June 1941 by Nazi Germany - under Adolf Hitler - in World War Two.
"Like most Russians, I used to live knowing that Russia once defeated fascism. I lived with the knowledge that my grandfather fought German troops led by Adolf Hitler in World War Two. Those fascists believed that people were not equal, and my grandfather fought them for that to never happen again, and he won. So, I had this illusion that if my country had defeated fascism sometime in the past, then we would be immune to becoming fascists ourselves. However, it turned out that there is no immunity, and, yes, an entire country and an entire nation can get this disease."
Ms Kostyuchenko was the first journalist to expose Russian torture cells in Ukraine. Based on testimonies of survivors, she was able to locate one of the hidden prisons for kidnapped Ukrainian civilians in Kherson.
The southern Ukrainian city was occupied by Russian forces in the early months of the war before Ukrainian forces recaptured it in November 2022.
Fearing for her safety, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, forced Ms Kostyuchenko to leave Ukraine and to eventually settle in Europe.
He had received information that Ms Kostyuchenko was on a hit list of the Russian government.
Ms Kostyuchenko was one of the many Novaya Gazeta journalists that Mr Muratov helped to find a new home in Europe.
"I have the most important task — to keep my employees safe. For this reason now I must send the greatest editorial team, assembled like diamonds — I must send them into exile and part with them".
The co-recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, Mr Muratov spoke with BAFTA-winning director Patrick Forbes in the early months following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Forbes' documentary ‘The Price of Truth’ - which premieres on SBS On Demand on Saturday 24 February - picks up the story of Novaya Gazeta, three days after the invasion of Ukraine.
The independent media that remained in Russia became the target of the Kremlin's edicts - including a ban on the use of the word "war", the suspension of domestic media outlets, and the listing of Russian journalists as "foreign agents".
The declaration under Russia's law requires those listed to mark all their materials - in Russian media or social networks - as being produced by a "foreign agent" - or face the penalty of fines or a jail term.
In September 2022, Russian authorities revoked the website and newspaper licences for Novaya Gazeta, which was founded in 1993, after the fall of the Soviet Union using some of the Novel Peace Prize money won by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990.
After losing its final appeal to keeps its publishing licences in early 2023, the outlet closed down in Russia.
Rebranded as Novaya Gazeta Europe, the operation is now run by a portion of its team, outside of Russia (with branches in Latvia, Germany and France) - and now on numerous online channels (including Telegram, YouTube, Twitter, and a website) and in multiple languages (in Russian, English, German, and plans for Latvian).
Mr Muratov remains in Russia, firm in his desire to stay in his home country, even after his eyesight was permanently damaged in an attack on a train from a masked attacker in May 2022.
That was mere days after he announced he would auction his Nobel medal, with the money to go to Ukrainian refugees.
He remains determined that Novaya Gazeta's investigative work continue - although he acknowledges it comes at a high cost.
"We are journalists, and our job is clear — to separate facts from lies. But journalism in Russia is going through dark times. Over the past few months, more than a hundred journalists, media, human rights activists and NGOs have received the status of "foreign agents". In Russia, this means one thing — enemy of the people."
According to a recent report by JX Fund and the Fix, there are currently 93 Russian independent media projects operating in exile, reaching millions of Russian-language readers - up to 9 per cent of the adult population in Russia.
These 93 media employ up 1800 Russian journalists based in 30 different countries.
The report highlights, that some of these media - like Meduza - outperform well-established platforms, such as the Financial Times, or the New Yorker, in terms of website visits and YouTube views.
For example, the Russian- and English-language news website Meduza - headquartered in Riga, Latvia - records more than a million page views a month. It also has its own app designed to overcome VPN blocking by Russian authorities.
Eugene Simonov is a long-time reporter with Novaya Gazeta and environmental activist, currently based in Australia.
He is also among the Russian journalists labelled a "foreign agent" by the Russian Ministry of Justice.
He told SBS Russian, he and others who have been blacklisted by Russian authorities, continue to find innovative ways to keep publishing their work - but the danger remains.
"The main danger is for individual journalists. In the current situation, any media platforms, no matter how ephemeral they may seem, will still find ways to exist one way or another. But journalists can be imprisoned. This is a major difference. Therefore, whenever any individual journalists is proclaimed a "foreign agent", the individual status always worries me more than the organisational one."
To date, 280 journalists and media organisations have been listed as "foreign agents" by the Russian Ministry of Justice.
Some have chosen to remain Russia, but Mr Simonov says it adds significant challenges to their reporting.
"The main idea (of declaring a journalist a "foreign agent") is to make the most influential people untouchable. On the one hand, the main goal is to make it difficult for them to communicate with their audiences. On the other hand, the government wants to complicate their connection with their sources — be that sources of funding or information, or other potential partners, so to speak. In general, the Russian government has been largely successful in doing that. I would think three times before attempting to work publicly with anyone inside Russia now - simply because it puts their life at risk."
Reflecting on the future of independent media in Russia, Mr Simonov says that will depend on whether the restrictions impeding the work of journalists continue.
In 2022, Russian authorities expanded criminal laws targeting what it called the spread of false information, allowing the federal media and telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, to block websites more aggressively without a court order.
Elena Kostyuchenko says her experience has led her to rethink her role as a journalist.
"It was very painful for me to realise — and I think many have faced the same realisation over the past two years — that professional duty does not cancel out your civic duty. The wonderful way you report on fascism is not the same as fighting it. Our entire Novaya Gazeta, which forever will be my second family and my home — we did not change anything. We did not prevent this war. Because we were focused on describing how it was coming."
The Price of Truth premieres on SBS On Demand on Saturday, 24 February 2024.
