American-Russian Journalist Detained in Russia: Freedom of Press Threatened

Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, drew the ire of Russian authorities with reporting on the Russian anti-war movement and minority ethnic resistance to the Putin government (Wikimedia Commons). 

Russian law enforcement detained Russian American Alsu Kurmasheva in the central city of Kazan on October 18, accusing her of failing to register as a foreign agent. 

Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist based in Prague, returned to Kazan for a family emergency on May 20. She was first stopped at the airport on June 2 when attempting to return home. Officials confiscated her Russian and U.S. passports and imposed a fine of $103. Kurmasheva waited for the return of her documents in order to complete her departure before new charges were unexpectedly released on October 18. 

The Russian charges documenting Kurmasheva’s failure to register as a foreign agent may correlate to a Russian law introduced in 2012. According to Article 62 of the Russian Constitution, “foreign citizens and stateless persons shall enjoy rights on a par with citizens of the Russian Federation, except in those cases envisaged by federal law” as subject to prosecution. Individuals associated with organizations that receive funding or engage in opposition to Russian policy are included under this law, including the failure to register as a foreign agent. Kurmasheva may face up to five years in prison due to Russia’s manipulation of this law.

RFE/RL, funded by the United States, is a Prague-based broadcaster focused on the development of democracy in Eastern Europe. Kurmasheva is not an espionage agent, according to RFE President Jeffrey Gedmin, who has released a statement pleading for her return to her family.

Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist detained following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In March 2023, The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was detained on charges of espionage, which he denies. If convicted, Gershkovich could face up to twenty years in prison. Gershkovich is the first U.S. journalist accused of spying since 1986, marking the heightening tensions between Russia and the United States.

According to the New York Times, Russian government officials now view Americans as valuable tools in negotiation in the return of high-value Russians currently in U.S. custody. 

Responding to Kurmasheva’s arrest, U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller accused the Russian government of “harassing Americans.” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov denies any campaign of targeted prosecutions against Americans, stating, “there are U.S. citizens who break the law and legal action is taken against them.” 

RFE/RL was informed by Russian authorities in 2017 to register its journalists as a foreign agents. While the station has been challenging Moscow’s use of foreign agent laws in the European Court of Human Rights, it has faced millions of dollars in fines by Russia for non-compliance. Kurmasheva’s political work has made her a target for interactions with minority communities while in Russia.

Kurmasheva, a native Kazan, wrote a series of stories highlighting minority perspectives in “No to War,” accounts of the viewpoints of Russians who oppose the invasion. She reported on initiatives to protect the Tatar language and culture from Russian authorities. Moreover, according to local Russian news sources, she collected information about the mobilization of Russian university professors into the army, which could severely discredit the country. 

According to political expert Ruslan Aysin, Kurmasheva’s efforts to shed light on the lives and cultures of Russia’s ethnic minorities in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan could also be an underlying reason for the arrest. These communities have been subjected to increased pressure from the Kremlin, including being sent to fight in Ukraine, and Kurmasheva’s work with them is viewed as more alarming than political affiliation with RFE. 

There is no date set for trial for either of the two detained journalists, and it remains unclear whether Kurmasheva will face any charges. U.S. authorities have yet to comment on the RFE journalist’s detention as she awaits a court hearing at a Kazan detention center.