Russian state television announced late Thursday evening that BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford will have to leave Russia by decision of the authorities, a move billed as a response to British policy towards Moscow.
The BBC declined to comment on Friday.
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For her part, the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova confirmed with half a word by wielding sarcasm in a message published on Telegram, believing that it was up to the British media to speak out.
“
Don't be shy,
” she wrote.
"
Representatives of the BBC recently visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, everything was explained, so they can tell everything
," she commented.
"A landmark expulsion"
The spokeswoman also underlined that Russia had in the past denounced, without effect, the "
humiliations with the visas inflicted by London on the Russian correspondents in Great Britain
".
Without identifying a source, the Rossiïa 24 channel explained Thursday evening that the British journalist's visa expired on August 31 and that it would not be renewed by decision of the authorities, a measure that the presenter considers "
symmetrical
" to alleged pressures British media on Russian media in the UK.
"
It's a landmark expulsion
," comments the journalist from the Russian news channel.
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The Russian authorities have continued to publicly criticize Western media content on Russia, regularly denouncing articles or reports deemed Russophobic.
But expulsions of journalists remain rare.
On August 9, the Russian Foreign Ministry had already declared personae non grata unidentified British nationals "
engaged in anti-Russian activities
".
This measure was presented as a response to the ban of Russians from the territory of the United Kingdom as part of British sanctions adopted in 2020 and 2021.
The Russian authorities have also increased this year legal proceedings against Russian media, NGOs and political organizations deemed hostile to power and accused of being financed or of serving the interests of the West.
Relations between London and Moscow have been particularly strained for years. The British accuse Moscow of having used radioactive and chemical poisons to attack Russian opponents of Vladimir Putin who have taken refuge in the United Kingdom.
