Russia summons Italian ambassador over RAI journalists

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 17 - Russia has summoned Italy's ambassador to Moscow, Cecilia Picconi, to protest against the "illegal" entry of two Italian reporters for State broadcaster RAI in the Kursk region to cover the attack by Ukrainian forces, Russian news agency Tass reports.
    Italian foreign ministry sources have said that Piccioni told Russian authorities that RAI and newsrooms plan their activities in a totally independent way.
    The diplomatic network has the role of following and safeguarding Italian citizens in any situation, the ambassador added.
    The Italian ambassador was summoned late on Friday after Russian Telegram news channel Baza reported earlier in the day that the Russian interior ministry intends to press criminal charges against two Italian journalists who reported from the region of Kursk.
    The journalists would be charged under "article 322 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation over the illegal crossing of State borders", wrote Baza.
    RAI reporters "Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini could be prosecuted", according to the news outlet, which recalled that the TG1 newscast of RAI's first television channel "reported from the city of Sudzha", which is located in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine.
    Italy's RAI union Usigrai and journalists' union Fnsi issued a joint statement slamming the allegation that the pair could be criminally prosecuted as "unacceptable".
    "Journalism is not a crime".
    "The hypothesis that Moscow's authorities could prosecute Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini who entered Russian territory with Ukrainian troops for a report for Tg1 is unacceptable.
    "Information cannot be provided with preventative authorizations.
    "Reporting a war is always difficult and withstands the most varied forms of pressure.
    "Threatening those who provide information with a criminal trial is one of them", concluded the statement. (ANSA).