Loktev’s Doc Shifts After Russia Invades Ukraine — SkimNews
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- Julia Loktev began filming a documentary titled 'The Lives of Foreign Agents' about Russian journalists labeled as 'foreign agents' and media deemed 'undesirable' by the state.
- Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half months after Loktev started filming, leading to the shutdown of all independent media within a week.
- TV Rain journalists, the subjects of Loktev’s film, were forced to flee Russia and scatter across Europe, reshaping the documentary into a two-part series titled 'My Undesirable Friends'.
- Loktev described the week of the invasion as terrifying, noting that even those closely watching could not foresee Russia launching a full war on Ukraine.
- Putin referred to the exiled journalists as 'flies that Russia spits out of its mouth,' underscoring the state’s hostility toward independent media.
Why it matters: The invasion not only ended independent journalism inside Russia but also turned a domestic media story into a transnational account of displacement. For the journalists involved, the cost was exile; for Loktev, it meant redefining her film’s scope around survival and truth-telling under repression.
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