Barbara Arvanitidis

Senior Producer

Barbara Arvanitidis is an award-winning senior producer based in London.
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RSF vehicles are attacked in drone strikes which a Ukrainian military source said was 'likely' conducted by Ukraine's special services.
Obtained by CNN
Exclusive: Ukraine’s special services ‘likely’ behind strikes on Wagner-backed forces in Sudan, a Ukrainian military source says
Sep 20, 2023
Speaking to CNN, a Ukrainian military source described the operation as the work of a “non-Sudanese military.” Pressed on whether Kyiv was behind the attacks, the source would only say that “Ukrainian special services were likely responsible.”
There's not enough food to go around the Renk camp, Darhok says, partly due to a lack of international aid.
CNN
Children die daily at a South Sudan border camp while they wait for international aid
Jun 19, 2023
His worn trousers bagging over the top of borrowed rubber rain boots, Kueaa Darhok attempts to make his way through the sucking mud and deep-set puddles, on his way to the communal feeding kitchen at the center of the transit camp he now calls home.
Burning of the Abu Shouk market 12.05.2023--
Mutasim A. Ali/Twitter
Kill, terrorize, expel: Testimonies detail atrocities by Wagner-backed militia in Sudan
Jun 17, 2023
A Sudanese militia is accused of reviving a genocidal playbook, with help from Russia’s mercenaries.
closeup view of il76 at al jufra airbase_16april2023
Maxar Technologies
Exclusive: Evidence emerges of Russia’s Wagner arming militia leader battling Sudan’s army
Apr 21, 2023
The Russian mercenary group Wagner has been supplying Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with missiles to aid their fight against the country's army, Sudanese and regional diplomatic sources have told CNN.
robert malley us special envoy iran
CNN
US diplomat highlights CNN's report on 'unspeakable' rapes of Iranian activists in detention
Nov 23, 2022
In a tweet, US envoy for Iran Robert Malley said the acts of sexual violence perpetrated by Iranian officials and described in the CNN report about sexual violence were "unspeakable."
03 Iraqi Kurdistan
Alex Platt/CNN
From protester to fighter: Fleeing Iran's brutal crackdown to take up arms over the border
Oct 18, 2022
A teenage dissident trailed behind a group of smugglers in the borderlands of western Iran. For three days, Rezan trekked a rocky mountain range and walked through minefields along a winding path forged by seasoned smugglers to circumnavigate the country's heavily armed Revolutionary Guards. It was a trip too dangerous for respite of much more than a few stolen moments at a time.
20220726 sudan gold russia illustration
Illustration by Will Mullery, CNN; Photos by Alex Platt, CNN
Russia is plundering gold in Sudan to boost Putin’s war effort in Ukraine
Jul 29, 2022
Multiple interviews with high-level Sudanese and US officials and troves of documents reviewed by CNN paint a picture of an elaborate Russian scheme to plunder Sudan’s riches in a bid to fortify Russia against increasingly robust Western sanctions and to buttress Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
IMG 3135 Smerch embedded into BMW near Lilia's apartment
Alex Platt/CNN
Exclusive: Russian general who oversaw atrocities in Syria led cluster bomb attacks on civilians in Ukraine
May 14, 2022
CNN has identified the rocket artillery brigade that launched the cluster munitions attack in residential districts of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv. The Russian general who led the attacks also oversaw the siege of Syria's eastern Aleppo and the ratcheting up of cluster bomb attacks in the rebel-held territory.

About

Barbara Arvanitidis is an award-winning senior producer based in London.

Arvanitidis is part of CNN’s newsgathering operation, deploying quickly to stories as they break. Arvanitidis helps shape CNN’s editorial coverage on location by managing multiple teams for large breaking news events. She most recently coordinated and managed CNN’s on-the-ground response to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which won the 2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for breaking news.

Arvanitidis has worked on numerous investigations which have resonated with audiences and impacted government policy, including a report with Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir, revealing that a bomb that killed 40 children on a school bus in Yemen was made in America. This report, in addition to further investigations, influenced the US Congress to temporarily ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This investigation and a further report on Sudanese torture houses was part of the body of work that contributed to Elbagir winning the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in the Investigative category and Royal Television Society (RTS) 2020 Television Journalist of the Year.

In 2019, Arvanitidis directed an hour-long investigative documentary “The Case of the Predator Priest”. The piece investigated Father Luk Delft, a Belgian priest whose religious order sent him to work with vulnerable families in Africa for a Catholic charity, despite knowing of a previous child abuse conviction.

Combining a variety of storytelling techniques, Arvanitidis has been able to bring to life stories that can be visually challenging such as that of Noura Hussein, sentenced to death in Sudan for killing her rapist husband. Arvanitidis was able to tell Noura’s story through animation and actors. Hussein’s death row conviction was later overturned after the report was released.

Before moving to CNN’s London bureau, Arvanitidis lived and worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil for six years, reporting on Latin America. Stories she covered included Pope Francis’ first foreign visit, and subsequently his Latin America tour. Arvanitidis worked on breaking news coverage during the Chilean earthquake, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Prior to working for CNN, Arvanitidis was a producer/director at the BBC’s current affairs department for nine years, winning the Wincott Award as part of the team that worked on The Love of Money and press accolades for programmes such as A Life Without Work, Explore, Coming of Age, One Day of War and Ethiopia; A Journey with Michael Burke. She has worked on high profile British news programs such as Newsnight and Panorama.

Arvanitidis is incredibly passionate about telling people’s stories, that resonate globally and make a difference.