November 14: Wrongfully Detained: Alsu Kurmasheva and the Kremlin's Targeting of U.S. Journalists
On October 18, 2023, Alsu Kurmasheva, a highly respected journalist and culture reporter for RFE/RL, was detained by Russian authorities in Kazan, 330 miles east of Moscow. She went from Prague this summer to visit her mother. She’s been blocked from leaving Russia since. A wife and mother herself of two young children, Alsu is now the second U.S. journalist to be detained in Russia after the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich. She currently sits in pre-trial detention, with one politically motivated charge filed and other spurious charges threatened.
On November 14, 2023, American Purpose, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Institute of Current World Affairs co-sponsored a discussion on Alsu’s case and the evolving Russian political context featuring Alsu's husband, Pavel Butorin, who leads RFE/RL's Current Time; Rim Gilfanov, Alsu's editor from the Tatar-Bashkir Service; Iulia Joja, Georgetown University; and Greg Feifer of the Institute of Current World Affairs.
The conversation was moderated by RFE/RL Acting President and American Purpose co-founder Jeffrey Gedmin.
Image: Alsu Kurmasheva. (Pangea Graphics/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
American Purpose newsletters
Sign up to get our essays and updates—you pick which ones—right in your inbox.
Subscribe
