Earlier on Wednesday, Russian TV broadcasters
reported that Kurbatova had been abducted in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
MOSCOW,
August 31. /TASS/. Channel One reporter Anna Kurbatova, who has been deported
from Ukraine, is safe and will arrive in Moscow on Thursday night, the Russian
broadcaster said in a statement published on its website.
"Channel
One reporter Anna Kurbatova, who was abducted in Kiev yesterday, is now safe
and will return home soon, we expect her in our office tonight," the
statement said.
On Wednesday night the reporter was deported from Ukraine with a three-year entry ban. She crossed the border through the Noviye Yurkovichi checkpoint in Russia’s Bryansk region.
Earlier on
Wednesday, Russian TV broadcasters reported that Kurbatova had been abducted in
the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Later, news came that she had actually been
detained by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) which claimed that her reports
were "infringing on the national interests" of Ukraine.
Anna
Kurbatova comes from the southern Russian city of Stavropol. While working in
Ukraine, she was receiving threats over her coverage of events happening in the
country. Before she disappeared, Anna was working on a report concerning the
persecution of journalists in Ukraine, while a few days ago, Channel One aired
her report covering the military parade which took place in Kiev on Ukraine’s
Independence Day. The reporter particularly said that the parade was "a
march of dependence," while the date itself marked "a sad
holiday." In her opinion, Kiev has returned "to the turbulent
90s," while Ukraine "is totally dependent on America and
Europe".
Source: ITAR-TASS 31-08-2017
