Since the arrest and detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich in Russia, questions have been coming to us about our correspondent’s work in Moscow and press freedom in Russia: how would he describe his job as a journalist in such a context?
The correspondent of Radio France in Russia, Sylvain Tronchet, has he observed a change in his working conditions over the months spent in Russia? Does he manage to find Russians who agree to express themselves freely? Are there any topics that are difficult or impossible to cover? Sylvain Tronchet responds to Emmanuelle Daviet, the mediator of the antennas of Radio France.
Emmanuelle Daviet: Listeners have been wondering about your working conditions since, on March 30, Russia announced the arrest, for espionage, of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist from wall street journal. The United States has formally denounced this arbitrary detention, and is calling for the journalist’s immediate release.
And since his arrest, we have received several messages from listeners concerning your work as a correspondent in Moscow. So, to start, how would you describe your job as a journalist in Russia?
Sylvain Tronchet: It’s permanent correspondent work in a traditional country, as one can do, with all the same difficulties. We know that being a correspondent in Russia, China or other countries, I don’t know, in Cuba for example, is obviously different from being a correspondent in a country of the European Union. But nonetheless, it’s still that job. With a particular dimension all the same, since the war in Ukraine broke out, it is that my work has become almost a single subject, that is to say that it is complicated today to chronicle the country, other than through the prism of this war.
And it is clear that most of the subjects that I produce today from Moscow are oriented towards the war, the consequences of the war, or the consequences of the war on power, inside the country.
An auditor wants to know if you have observed a change in your working conditions over the months?
Yes, clearly. The working conditions of foreign correspondents have become tougher. We can say that we are very officially representatives of unfriendly states today. This means, for example, that, administratively, things have become more complex for us. We renew our visas every three months now, which is quite cumbersome, whereas previously, it was every year. There are compulsory medical tests to be done today for foreigners, for example, as well.
And then we are no longer, for example, invited to major international press conferences. In practice, we have almost no contact with the authorities, with power, when we want to question them, precisely because we have this status of foreign journalists. Nevertheless, we keep our accreditations and therefore we can legally continue to work on Russian soil.
Question from a listener: “In such a context, does your correspondent in Moscow manage to find Russians who agree to talk to him freely?”
That’s a big question, and that’s the real question. That is to say that clearly, the risks incurred today, especially when we talk about everything concerning the war in Ukraine, but in a more extended way, on the criticism of power, and the risks incurred by opponents, with numerous prison sentences, classifications under the status of “foreign agent”, which are also increasing in the country, make things very complicated.
And clearly, if it’s a matter of collecting a speech that is going to be a speech critical of power or opposition, well, there are still some brave Russians who are able to do it openly, who take risks to do it, and who do it while standing on a crest, paying close attention to what they say. And if we want to have really free and critical words, clearly, we will have to produce them by preparing them and in conditions of anonymity.
As for the speeches that go in the direction of power, there, obviously, things are much more free. But in general all the same, I note that my ability to find interlocutors, whatever the subject, has obviously been restricted in recent months.
And more generally, are there subjects that are difficult or even impossible to deal with?
Sylvain Tronchet: There is Russian law in fact, which has become considerably tougher in recent months, which makes it, for example, theoretically impossible to talk about the war in Ukraine. Moreover, one should not speak of war theoretically, but of the “special military operation”, other than using official sources, that is to say that it is not possible for the media Russians operating in Russia, to quote sources which are not those of the Russian army.
Normally, in theory, this law also applies to foreign correspondents. Having said that, just listen, read what we, and other foreign correspondents here, are doing from Russia, we take liberties with this framework. Nevertheless, things remain very constrained, that is to say that the problem is not that we are censored. The problem is that there is a whole lot of information to which we do not have access, and in particular we do not have access to the front line, on the Russian side.
That’s the whole problem with this war, in fact, it’s that there is an absolutely incredible asymmetry which is that, on one side of the front line, on the Ukrainian side, you have thousands of journalists and the other side, Russian side, you only have Russian journalists accredited by the Kremlin. And so, there are a whole bunch of subjects that we don’t deal with, not because of censorship, but because we don’t have access to the information. That’s clear, and these are the subjects that concern the war very clearly.
Nevertheless, despite this context, you manage to talk about the war?
Yes, we can talk about it. We are already talking about it through its consequences on Russian society: repression, economic problems, etc. For example, we regularly see videos appearing here of soldiers complaining about their conditions at the front. So we try to document them, verify them, and we make topics about it. I recently did another subject on this kind of creeping mobilization which is currently taking place in Russia, which does not say its name and where the Russian army seeks to recruit by trying to attract people, by offering them salaries which are considerably higher than the average wage.
So yes, obviously we talk about it, and that’s why our presence is important here, because if we weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to deal with these subjects. And more than ever, we need to understand Russia. We need expertise on Russia and this expertise, this understanding, it cannot be fully exercised if we do not have access to the field. And that’s why the presence of foreign correspondents in the country, there are still a few of us, and quite a few French people, is extremely important.