Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday added 49 British media and defence figures to its retaliatory sanctions list, banning them from entering Russia.
The list of 29 media figures contains journalists, editors, and columnists from a wide range of British news media including The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Sky News, The Times of London, the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, The Daily Mail, The Independent, and The Financial Times.
Also on the list are Russia expert Mark Galeotti, the BBC’s Director-General Tim Davie, and BBC Chairman Richard Sharp.
In a statement published on its website, the Foreign Ministry accused the media figures of being involved in “the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and the developments in Ukraine and Donbass,” claiming, “Their biased assessments contribute to fueling Russophobia in British society.”
The ministry also said the sanctions came in response to the UK’s sanctioning of Russian journalists and defence bosses.
Sanctions ‘Will Not Silence’ Journalists
Journalists and news outlets targeted by the travel ban said they’re disappointed by the news, but are determined to “continue to hold truth to power.”A spokesperson for the BBC said the public broadcaster would “continue to report independently and fairly” while BBC presenter journalists Nick Robinson, who has reported the war from Kyiv and is on the list, jokingly wrote on Twitter: ”Oh well, there goes the plan for a nice dacha [holiday home in Russia] ...”
A Telegraph spokesperson said the newspaper was “proud of its reporting of the invasion of Ukraine and regrets attempts by Russia to restrict press freedom.”
Gideon Rachman, the chief foreign affairs commentator for The Financial Times, said it’s “a shame” that he’s on the list since he had always learned from his trips to Russia and enjoyed them.
“I hope I can return to the country when it has a civilised government that no longer attacks its neighbours and murders its opponents,” he said.
Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who used to be based in Russia until being deported in 2011, expressed similar hope.
“Sad—but no regime lasts forever and I hope one day to go back.”
A spokesperson for The Guardian said the Kremlin’s targeting of journalists was a “disappointing move,” adding it was a “bad day for press freedom.”
“Trusted, accurate journalism is more important now than ever, and despite this decision we will continue to report robustly on Russia and on its invasion of Ukraine,” the spokesperson added.
Christian Broughton, managing director and former editor-in-chief of The Independent, who is on the list, said the travel bans “will not silence our industry.”
“The determination of reporters is not to be underestimated. They will continue to hold truth to power,” Broughton wrote in a column in The Independent on Wednesday.
DUP Lawmaker ‘Relieved’ by Travel Ban
Three DUP lawmakers, Sammy Wilson, Gavin Robinson, and Gregory Cambell, were included on Russia’s sanctions list along with defence officials and executives.Speaking to BBC News Northern Ireland, Wilson said the sanctions are “fairly pathetic” and that it “illustrates the degree of tyranny that Russian people must live under.”
Wilson also said he had “lobbied very hard for the government to do the right thing by Ukrainians,” adding that, in a way, he felt “relieved” by the sanctions against him.
“Because when my two colleagues were mentioned and I wasn’t mentioned there was suspicion in the party that I was some sort of closet commie or friend of Putin who escaped these sanctions,” he said.
Thales UK, the UK arm of a French defence company, has a plant in Belfast.
