Russia To Respond In Kind In Case Of New Expulsions Of Journalists From Ukraine - Moscow

Russia will continue responding in kind in case of new expulsions of Russian journalists from Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2018) Russia will continue responding in kind in case of new expulsions of Russian journalists from Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"There are situations when we see that apart from forceful or political pressure, there is a direct threat from the security forces or the authorities of this or that country against Russian journalists, up to their deportation. When we talk about something similar, unfortunately, we have been forced to respond in kind in recent years," Zakharova said at a briefing.

According to Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry will continue to provide all the opportunities for work in Russia to all journalists, including those from Ukraine, despite the fact that any journalists can write "fake news."

"We are obliged and will continue to do so in the future � to fully provide them with all the opportunities to work in in Russia, in accordance with our legislation. But in the case when such measures as expulsions are applied to journalists, we have to respond in kind," Zakharova said.

Earlier in December, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the EU-Ukraine Association agreement, where the lawmakers expressed their concern about the increasing number of criminal cases against journalists in the country who had tried to shed light on corruptness of government officials or criticized the authorities' policies.

The EU-Ukraine Association Council, which held the 5th meeting in Brussels on Monday, highlighted in its press release the need to protect journalists and rights activists in Ukraine from attacks.

President of the Ukrainian National Union of Journalists Sergiy Tomilenko said earlier in December that as many as 78 attacks had been carried out against journalists in Ukraine since the beginning of the year, including six cases of physical aggression in November.

Moreover, dozens of journalists have faced persecution and detention in Ukraine over the past few years, including Igor Guzhva, the editor-in-chief of Kiev-based news website Strana.ua, who was detained in Kiev on June 22, 2017 on suspicion of extortion; journalist Vasily Muravitsky, who was accused of treason for his media publications; and the arrest of RIA Novosti Ukraine web portal head Kirill Vyshinsky in May.