A Russian reporter critical of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has arrived in France after Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières or RSF) smuggled her out of Russia.
"Thanks a lot for your support," Ukrainian-born journalist Ekaterina Barabash told a news conference at RSF headquarters in Paris.
Her journey lasted around two-and-a-half weeks, she said in English. "It was very difficult," she said, adding that she was not at liberty to disclose all the details.
Barabash, 64, was arrested in February on suspicion of spreading "false information" about the Russian armed forces in several posts she made on social media.
Authorities were alerted to her disappearance in April.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, authorities have accused thousands of people of "discrediting" the army, which is now against the law.
Barabash had written for several news outlets, including the Russian service of FRANCE 24 sister station Radio France Internationale.
Barabash, who was born in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when it was part of the Soviet Union, has been an outspoken critic of Moscow's military offensive against Ukraine.
Read moreLast remaining voices of the Russian opposition are being silenced amid war in Ukraine
In March 2022 she wrote on Facebook that Russia had "bombed the country" and "razed whole cities to the ground".
Days before her arrest, she wrote of "hatred, hatred, hatred for those who started all this".
"So many lives have been destroyed, so many families torn apart," she wrote on Facebook.
"Over the years, the hatred has stopped burning, stopped suffocating me – it has hardened, grown stronger and burns with a steady flame that nothing can extinguish. I will die with it."
Russia made it illegal to criticise the army and its military operations in Ukraine shortly after the war against Ukraine began.
Rights groups say authorities are using the law to wage an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.
Former Russian state television journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who protested against the Ukraine conflict during a live broadcast, escaped Russia in 2022 after fleeing house arrest.
RSF also helped smuggle her out of the country.
Read moreRisk harsh prison terms or leave the country? The tough choices facing Russian dissidents
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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