KURSK. Oct 7 (Interfax) - The Leninsky District Court in Kursk has granted the motion of the regional office of Russia's FSB Border Service to issue arrest warrant for Italian journalists Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini who illegally entered Russia from Ukraine to shoot a television story about Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region, the combined press service for the judicial system of the Kursk region said on Monday.
"TV cameraman Simone Traini and reporter Stefania Battistini, along with some unidentified people, entered the Russian Federation from Ukrainian territory with the intent of filming a television report about the invasion of the Kursk region's Sudzha district by Ukraine's armed units using tanks, artillery and light armored vehicles on August 6, 2024," the judiciary press service said in a statement.
Having illegally crossed the Russian order, Traini and Battistini used a transport vehicle of Ukrainian armed units to proceed to the Kursk region's Sudzha, it said.
The two Italian journalists, earlier placed on a CIS and international wanted lists, have been charged with trespassing the Russian state border. The judge ordered custody as a measure of restraint for them, it said They will be placed in custody on the day they are apprehended in Russian territory or extradited to Russia.
The court ruling has not yet entered into force and may be appealed.
As was reported previously, the FSB opened criminal cases over illegal border crossing against 14 foreign journalists, including Italian nationals Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini, in late August 2024. All of the journalists shot TV stories and other video material in Sudzha, the Kursk region when Ukrainian troops were present there.