MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said it summoned a senior U.S. diplomat on Tuesday to protest over what it called the "provocative actions" of American journalists reporting from Russia's Kursk region.
The Foreign Ministry said it had told U.S. Charge d'Affaires Stephanie Holmes that the reporters had crossed illegally into the region, where Ukrainian forces mounted an incursion two weeks ago, and that Russia intended to prosecute them.
Moscow appeared to be referring to reporting by the Washington Post and CNN from Sudzha, a Russian border town currently under Kyiv's control.
In the CNN broadcast, journalists travelled with a Ukrainian military convoy from Ukraine to Sudzha, where they encountered a nearly deserted town with a few dozen elderly residents remaining.
For the Washington Post, a text reporter, a videographer and a photographer travelled to Sudzha on Saturday escorted by Ukrainian troops, and interviewed dozens of Russian civilians and Ukrainian soldiers.
The Foreign Ministry said it had protested over the actions of American reporters who had "illegally entered the Kursk region for propaganda coverage of the Kyiv regime's crimes".
It did not name the reporters or their media outlets.
The journalists' actions "clearly prove the involvement of the United States as a direct participant in the conflict", the Foreign Ministry said.
Contacted by Reuters, a Washington Post spokesperson said: "We are proud of our reporting on the Ukraine-Russia war and remain committed to covering all aspects of this important, evolving conflict."
CNN and the U.S. embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to comment requests.
In a similar case, Russia on Friday summoned the Italian ambassador to protest what it called an "illegal border crossing" by a team of correspondents from Italian state broadcaster RAI, who reported from Sudzha under Ukrainian military escort. The two journalists subsequently returned to Italy.
In its statement on Tuesday, Moscow added that there was "evidence of the participation of Americans PMCs (private military companies) on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during their invasion of the territory of the Russian Federation."
It did not say what evidence it was referring to.
All foreign mercenaries who enter Russia illegally "automatically become a legitimate military target", the ministry said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Conor Humphries)
