Alsu Kurmasheva

Alsu Kurmasheva (born September 1, 1976) is a Prague-based Russian-American journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir Service. Kurmasheva was arrested in Kazan, Russia on October 18, 2023, and charged with failure to register as a foreign agent. The charge carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.

Detainment
Kurmasheva entered Russia on May 20, 2023, to deal with a family emergency, according to RFE/RL. She was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2, 2023, at Kazan airport and authorities confiscated Kurmasheva's passports, preventing her from leaving the country. She was fined 10,000 rubles for failing to register her American passport on October 11, 2023, according to court documents.

Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18, 2023, and charged with failure to register as a foreign agent, punishable by up to five years in prison. Specifically, the charges against Kurmasheva allege that she “deliberately conducted a targeted collection of military information about Russian activities via the internet to transmit information to foreign sources." Her lawyer, Edgar Matevosyan, said she was pleading not guilty. On October 20, 2023, Russian authorities extended Kurmasheva's detention by three days. On October 23, 2023, a district court in Kazan rejected Kurmasheva's request for pretrial measures avoiding incarceration, instead assigning her to a detention center until December 5, 2023.

Kurnasheva's detainment garnered significant criticism, particularly from Western governments and international human rights and media freedom organizations. Dmitry Kolezev, a prominent Russian journalist, characterized her arrest as "another hostage has been taken." The Committee to Protect Journalists demanded Russia release Kurmasheva, expressing "deep concern" with her detention and stating "journalism is not a crime." The U.S. State Department claimed Kurmasheva's detention was a case of Russian harassment of American citizens. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Russia was harassing Americans. According to the Associated Press, analysts believe Russia may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after the increase of Russian-American tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On April 1, 2024, a Russian court extended her detention until June 5, 2024.

Personal life
Kurmasheva holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship. She is married and has two children.