In a recent dispatch from Moscow, BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg noted that a new Russian law required him to refer to the invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.” Then he quoted a Russian human rights lawyer who liberally used what is now a forbidden word: “war.”
The restrictions on how news organizations can report in Russia, which carry punishment of up to 15 years in prison, have impeded journalists, but not muzzled them. Many continue to report aggressively, even from outside the country, by making use of modern tools unavailable a generation ago: the Internet, encrypted communications, mobile-phone cameras in the hands of millions — and simple bravery.
