All news

Canadian, French reporters covering events in Donbass seeking Russian citizenship

"We are threatened with repression and prison in our home countries," French war reporter Christel Nehan said

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Several Canadian and French war correspondents who cover events in Donbass would like to obtain Russian citizenship, Christel Nehan, French war reporter, editor-in-chief of the Donbass Insider website and New Media Workshop graduate, told TASS.

"I have been a Russian citizen for two years thanks to [President] Vladimir Putin’s decree because I obtained a DPR [Donetsk People’s Republic] passport in 2016. I don’t have a French passport any longer as mine expired and I did not bother to get a new one. It turns out that I renounced my French citizenship. The majority of guys I would like to include in my new Internet agency’s team don’t have Russian passports yet," she pointed out. "However, I know that this is what they very much want because there’s no turning back for any of us. We are threatened with repression and prison in our home countries," Nehan added.

In discussing her proposal to launch an international Internet agency that would bring together independent journalists working in Russia, Nehan pointed out that it would make it possible "to shatter the West’s propaganda machine."

"As Vladimir Putin said, the truth is the best weapon against lies. I am confident that destroying all that propaganda requires telling the truth. If all media outlets in France and America did their job faithfully, we would not have to face such a situation and the West would not be nurturing the Kiev regime, which continues to kill civilians in Donbass," the war reporter explained.

On Wednesday, Nehan took part in a meeting of the supervisory board of the Russia - Land of Opportunity autonomous non-profit organization, putting forward an initiative to form a team of Western journalists working in Russia. President Putin pledged to support her project.