A Russian journalist said she’s staying to report as others flee over Putin’s new censorship law: ‘I’m not a martyr. But I feel like somebody has to do that’

• Many reporters have left Russia after the Kremlin introduced a new censorship law last week. 
• The new law prohibits calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “war.”
• Yevgenia Albats, the editor-in-chief of the New Times, said she is staying despite the risk of prison.

A Russian journalist said she’s staying and reporting in Russia despite President Vladimir Putin’s new censorship law and the potentially severe consequences she could face.

Yevgenia Albats, the editor-in-chief of the New Times, a liberal, independent outlet, told CNN that she’s “not afraid” of the new law targeting reporters: “I’m not a martyr. But I feel like somebody has to do that.”

Putin introduced a censorship law on March 4 that restricts the ability of the press to disseminate information to the public. The law prohibits calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “war” and anyone who uses the term could face 15 years in prison.  

The move prompted major news outlets like CNN, the BBC, and The New York Times to suspend their operations in Russia. Some Russian journalists also left the country.

Albats said she has to report “carefully” these days and posts videos to her Youtube channel, which she is worried could land her in jail. However, she said her views have already been publically known and that it’s “too late” for her to be afraid. 

“They can kill me,” Albats told CNN. “Nobody promised me that I am going to live forever.”

She added that she’s ashamed of Russia’s actions and that her taxes are going “into bombs that kill people in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, an American journalist was killed in Ukraine on Sunday, the Kyiv regional police chief said. Documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot by Russian forces in Irpen, west of Kyiv.