Russia bans 29 UK Journalists

New Delhi: Russia has banned 29 members of the British media from entering the country, its foreign ministry has said. Moscow said, “the sweeping action was a response to western sanctions and the spreading of false information about Russia as well as anti-Russian actions of the British government”.

“The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” the ministry said in a statement.

Twenty individuals described as associated with the defense complex including military figures, senior aerospace figures, and MPs, were also banned.

British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Independent, Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other outlets have also been banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Independent were also listed.

Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its 24 February 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 disseminate “false information” about the Russian army.

Russia warned US news organizations this month they risked being stripped of their accreditation unless the treatment of Russian journalists in the US improved. Among those banned on the second part of the list were the UK minister of state for defense procurement, Jeremy Quin, and Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston.

(Vinayak)