RAI's Battistini, Traini back in Italy over security

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 17 - State broadcaster RAI has decided to temporarily get back to Italy journalist Stefania Battistini and operator Simone Traini, "exclusively to guarantee safety and personal protection", the State broadcaster's CEO and president, Roberto Sergio said on Saturday.
    Russia late on Friday summoned Italy's ambassador to Moscow, Cecilia Piccioni, to protest against the "illegal" entry of the RAI reporter and operator in the Kursk region to cover the attack by Ukrainian forces.
    Italian foreign ministry sources have said that Piccioni told Russian authorities that RAI and newsrooms plan their activities in a totally independent way.
    The Italian ambassador was summoned after Russian Telegram news channel Baza reported that the Russian interior ministry wants to press criminal charges against the pair, who work for the TG1 news program.
    The journalist and operator would be charged under "article 322 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation over the illegal crossing of State borders", wrote Baza, after they reported from the city of Sudzha, which is located in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine. (ANSA).