Russia has banned 29 members of the British media, including five Guardian journalists, from entering the country, its foreign ministry said.
Moscow said the large-scale action was in response to Western sanctions and “spreading false information about Russia”, as well as “anti-Russian actions by the British government”.
“British journalists on the list are involved in deliberately spreading false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” the ministry said in a statement.
Twenty people he described as “related to the defense complex”, including military figures, senior aerospace figures and lawmakers, were also banned.
Among the banned journalists are Guardian correspondents Sean Walker, Luke Harding, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont, as well as Catherine Wiener, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief.
British journalists working for the BBC, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other media outlets were also banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent were also listed.
A Guardian spokesman said: “This is a disappointing move by the Russian government and a bad day for press freedom. Trusted and accurate journalism is now more important than ever, and despite this decision, we will continue to report seriously on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets following its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, as well as on foreign social media networks. The legislation was introduced soon after the war began to criminalize media outlets that spread “false information” about the Russian military.
As a result, a number of media groups have stopped working in Russia, with the draconian law effectively threatening to punish independent journalism with sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Russia has also blocked access to the websites of several foreign news organizations, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Russia warned US news organizations this month that they risk being deprived of accreditation unless attitudes toward Russian journalists in the United States improve.
“Work on expanding Russia’s stop list will continue,” the statement said.
Among those banned on the second part of the list were UK Secretary of State Jeremy Quinn and Chief Aviation Marshal Mike Wigston.
The full list is: Sean Walker, Guardian correspondent; Conn Cafflin, Daily Telegraph columnist; Stuart Ramsey, Sky News correspondent; James Rothwell, journalist for the Daily Telegraph; John Widrow, editor-in-chief of the Times; Chris Evans, editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph; Catherine Wiener, Editor-in-Chief, The Guardian; Richard Sharp, Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors; Timothy Davy, Director-General of the BBC; Clive Miri, BBC correspondent and news anchor; Orla Guerin, BBC correspondent; Nick Robinson, BBC presenter; Paul Adams, BBC correspondent; Nick Beek, BBC correspondent; Alexander Thomson, correspondent and host of Channel 4 News; Dan Rivers, ITV correspondent; Peter Beaumont, Guardian correspondent; Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian correspondent; Sophie Ridge, journalist and host of Sky News; Catherine Newman, journalist and host of Channel 4 News; Edward Verity, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail; Christian Broughton, Editor-in-Chief of the Independent; Larissa Brown, Military News Editor, Times; Mark Galeotti, political scientist; Joseph Barnes, Daily Telegraph correspondent; Gideon Rahman, Financial Times correspondent; Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent; Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times and Daily Mail columnist; Lawrence Friedman, Sunday Times columnist.
Jeremy Quinn, Secretary of State for Public Procurement; Leo Doherty, Deputy Minister of Defense; Benjamin Ki, Commander of the Royal Navy, Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy; Mike Wigston, RAF Commander; Robert Maghouan, Deputy Chief of Strategic Command, United Kingdom; Charles Stickland, Commander, Joint Operations, United Kingdom Armed Forces; Roger Martin Carr, Chairman of the Board, BAE Systems; Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems; David Armstrong, Managing Director of BAE Systems; Glyn Phillips, Managing Director of BAE Systems; Clifford Robson, Managing Director of BAE Systems; Alexander Cresswell, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Thales UK; Christopher Shaw, Chief Operating Officer of Thales UK; Paul Gosling, Vice President, Thales UK; Ewan McCrory, Vice President, Thales UK; Susan Stratton, Vice President, Thales UK; Lynn Watson, Vice President, Thales UK; Gregory Campbell, MP; Gavin Robinson, MP; Samuel Wilson, MP.
Add Comment