‘Death from worse’: Journalist Ekaterina Barbash who ran away from the arrest of the house in Russia’s resurrection in Paris

Veteran journalist and film critic Ekaterina Barbash was seen in Paris after secretly fleeing in Moscow in Paris this week, where she suffered a 10 -year prison sentence on social media posts, condemning Russia’s Ukraine.The 63 -year -old Barbash fled the country in April, helping reporters without any limit (RSF). The organization revealed that it removed its electronic monitoring tag and traveled over 2,800 kilometers (some 1,700 mi) through ‘secret’ routes to reach France.During a press conference with Barbash at RSF’s Paris headquarters, Group Director Thibot Brutin said, “His migration was one of the most dangerous operations, which has been involved in the RSF since the Draconian laws of Russia in March 2022.” “At one point, we thought she could die.”Barabash, born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was arrested in February 2022 after returning from the Berlinal Film Festival. Russian officials accused him of spreading “false information” about the army and called him a “foreign agent” due to a Facebook post between 2022 and 2023, which criticized Russia’s war attempts. A post condemned the bombing of Ukrainian cities and suffering on citizens.“There is no culture in Russia … there is no politics … it’s just war,” he said in Paris. Barbash said that the concept of a “Russian journalist” is no longer understood. “Journalism cannot be present under totalitarianism.”“So you (Expective) bombed the country, landed the entire cities on the ground, killed a hundred children, shot citizens without any reason, blocked Marriupol, deprived millions of a normal life and forced them to leave them abroad? All for friendship with Ukraine?” Read one of Barbash posts.His escape path took him through several borders, and he spent two weeks to hide for two weeks before reaching France on 26 April, his birthday. The most painful part, she said, leaving her 96 -year -old mother behind. “I just understood that I would never see him,” Barbash said, both of them decided that it was better to not see him while being free.Barbash’s son and grandson is built in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Since the war started, she has not been able to see them, saying, “I have a Russian passport.”According to the RSF, over 90 media organizations have shifted to the European Union and neighboring countries since the war began. Russia is ranked 171 out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index of RSF.“Jail in Russia is worse than death,” Barbash told the Associated Press. “If you want to be a journalist, you have to leave.”There are at least 38 journalists imprisoned in Russia, and more than 1,200 individuals have faced allegations for expressing anti-war views. According to the Human Rights Group Ovd-Info, 389 of them are currently in custody.