Mystery of Russia Reporter Deepens

The case of a missing Russian correspondent for U.S.-funded Radio Liberty, which has called into question the accountability of this country’s new government, took new twists Wednesday as a video surfaced purporting to show the reporter alive as recently as Sunday.

The videotape, sold late Tuesday to Radio Liberty by unidentified men in a Mercedes-Benz, shows a close-up of Andrei Babitsky talking unsteadily into the camera and saying the date is Feb. 6, 2000--three days after Russian officials say they turned him over to unidentified Chechen fighters during a bizarre prisoner exchange.

But the video didn’t include any verification of the date, such as a printed newspaper, and Babitsky never says where he is, who he is with or why the video is being made. Colleagues also noted that his brief statement included the awkward sentence “The only problem is the time,” suggesting that he was being coerced to name an incorrect date.

“I think this is an operation of the [Russian] special services,” said Mario Corti, director of Radio Liberty’s Russian service, who paid $300 for the video.

Babitsky, a Russian citizen who frequently reported for the network from behind rebel lines in war-torn Chechnya, disappeared in mid-January from Russian-controlled territory. Russian authorities acknowledge that they detained him and on Feb. 3 handed him over to Chechen fighters in exchange for three Russian POWs.

The case has become a cause celebre within Russia. About 50 Russian journalists published a statement Wednesday accusing the government of “blatant outrage and cynicism.”

“All we know is one thing: that some anonymous officials have disposed of a journalist and the government has publicly absolved itself of responsibility for his fate,” the statement said.

A Moscow-based Chechen official said Wednesday that he believes that Babitsky, 35, is alive and has made it into Chechen hands in recent days. Sharip Yusupov, a representative of the Chechen government, said he had information from reliable intermediaries that Babitsky is now with a field commander who is trying to get him to Europe.

“The unit that has Babitsky, as far as I have been able to understand, does not have a satellite phone and is trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible,” Yusupov said.