This satellite image released by Planet Labs PBC shows fires near the village of Krasnooktyabrskoe in Russia’s Kursk region on Tuesday. Planet Labs PBC via Associated Press

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday rejected Russian accusations of U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s Kursk incursion after the Foreign Ministry summoned Chargé d’Affaires Stephanie Holmes to protest the “provocative actions” of American journalists who reported from the Russian region of Kursk under Ukrainian control.

The ministry condemned the actions of American journalists who reported from Kursk after Ukrainian forces took control of the region and complained that an American private military company was operating there as well.

In response, the embassy said that independent news organizations “make their own operational and personnel decisions,” in a statement Wednesday. “The U.S. government plays no role.”

“In fact, we actively discourage all U.S. citizens from traveling to Russia, including for reporting purposes, as we have stated in our Travel Advisory for Russia, which is currently at Level 4: Do Not Travel.”

The statement added that “we were not engaged in any aspect of the planning or preparation of this operation. We refer you to the Ukrainians to speak about their own military operations.”

The ministry on Tuesday told Holmes that the journalists had entered the region illegally “for propaganda coverage of the crimes of the (Ukrainian) regime.” Its statement Tuesday said the Russian law enforcement agencies would investigate Americans “involved in these crimes” and bring them to justice. The ministry did not name any journalists or media outlets.

The European Federation of Journalists on Tuesday strongly condemned earlier Russian threats to prosecute Italian journalists who covered the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk.

“The EFJ considers that these intimidations amount to censorship and are aimed at preventing public opinion from being informed about ongoing operations,” the federation said in a statement.

The Washington Post and several other U.S. news organizations have reported from inside Kursk in recent days. The Post said in a story published Aug. 17 that its team traveled to Ukrainian-held territory in Russia to document the extent of Ukrainian control and witness firsthand the conditions remaining Russian civilians face.

“We are proud of our reporting on the Ukraine-Russia war and remain committed to covering all aspects of this important, evolving conflict,” a Post spokesperson said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also complained that an American private military company was fighting on Ukraine’s side in Kursk and participating “in the invasion of the territory of the Russian Federation.” The ministry statement did not name the company but warned that any foreign military specialists or mercenaries illegally crossing into Russia were legitimate military targets.

According to the ministry, Holmes was warned that these actions, “which run counter to the claims of the Biden administration about its alleged noninvolvement in the attack of Ukrainian neo-Nazis on Russia, clearly prove the involvement of the United States as a direct participant in the conflict.”

Earlier, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the journalists were “whitewashing” Ukrainian “crimes” and “manipulating public opinion and creating the necessary background for the West’s further support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Zakharova on Wednesday said that only journalists who had Russian accreditation and a visa could report from Kursk.

The threats to prosecute journalists come just weeks after Russia released several imprisoned activists and American journalist Evan Gershkovich – a Bowdoin College graduate who was accused of espionage – in a major prisoner swap.

Since Russia began occupying parts of Ukraine, Russian journalists, military bloggers and officials have routinely visited. In 2022, Russia illegally claimed to have annexed the four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, including areas not under its military control.

In June, President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine surrender the remaining territory in those regions as one of several Russian conditions for peace. After Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk, however, he and other officials have ruled out peace negotiations while Ukrainian forces remain on Russian territory.

On Monday, Zakharova called journalists who reported from Kursk “traitors to the profession who have stooped as low as direct involvement in the fabrication and dissemination of Ukrainian Nazi propaganda.”