BBC reporter expulsion: Russia dismisses ‘media assault’ allegations
Moscow says a decision to expel a BBC reporter was made in response to Britain’s denying accreditation to a Russian reporter in 2019.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Sarah Rainsford’s visa would not be renewed, and that she had to leave Russia by the end of August.
The BBC said Russia’s move was a “direct assault on media freedom.”
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “the Russian move is exclusively retaliation.”
Zakharova added that the expulsion had nothing to do with “freedom of speech.”
The Russian official said “the saga goes back” to summer 2019, when a Russian reporter had to leave Britain for visa reasons “without explanation.”
She did not name the Russian reporter or the media organization the individual worked with.
Zakharova also accused Britain of “turning the affair on its head.”
Earlier on Saturday, Rainsford said she had been told by Russian authorities she “can't ever come back to Russia.” Zakharova dismissed the remarks as untrue. The spokeswoman said Rainsford will be given a visa after the Russian reporter is allowed back into the United Kingdom.
The British embassy in Moscow has denied that any Russian journalists have been discriminated against in the UK. The embassy says Rainsford’s effective expulsion is “retrograde” and “unjustified.”
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