Russian Foreign Ministry BASHES Ukraine for deportation of TV reporter

Originally appeared at RussiaFeed.com

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow is outraged by the deportation from Ukraine of the correspondent of the Russian VGTRK television Tamara Nersesyan and demands from Kiev to fulfill its obligations in the field of media freedom, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, VGTRK reported that Nersesyan was deported from Ukraine. Soon after that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed the deportation, however it had not provided details on the issue.

“We express indignation at the gross violation of the rights of Russian journalists and demand official Kiev to strictly observe international obligations in the field of media freedom and ensure their security,”

the ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that Kiev continued its policy hampering activities of media outlets and expanding the list of foreign reporters unable to visit Ukraine’s territory.

“We call upon the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,Harlem Desir, to pay attention to the policy of the Ukrainian authorities towards the media and to give a principled evaluation of their actions,”

the statement said.

The statement added that the case of Nersesyan is not the first case of deportation of foreign reporters from Ukraine, citing the July deportation of Maria Knyazeva, who worked for Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24 broadcasters.

Earlier in the day, Nersesyan said that the Ukrainian security services ordered her to leave the country within 24 hours and barred her from entering it for a three-year period due to an alleged threat posed by her materials to Ukrainian security and territorial integrity.

The journalist added that before the deportation she had been questioned for around three hours.

Kiev has repeatedly limited the activities of Russian news outlets and journalists in Ukraine. In March 2015, Kiev published a list of 115 Russian media outlets, which could be denied or temporarily suspended accreditation by Ukrainian authorities as the outlets “posed threats” to Ukrainian state security. As the regulation came into force, a number of Russian journalists and television reporters were denied entry to Ukraine or deported to Russia.