Russia bans two French lawmakers and two journalists over the Xenia Fedorova case

The ban

Russia has barred two French deputies and two French journalists from entering the country, the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday, 11 November. The deputies are Sacha Houlié and Arthur Delaporte. The journalists are Ariane Chemin, a senior reporter at Le Monde, and Paul Gogo, an independent journalist who works with Ouest-France. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova presented the decision at a briefing and said the four had taken part in harassing Xenia Fedorova and had called for her expulsion.

Why Moscow points to Fedorova

France ordered Xenia Fedorova to leave the country in July, accusing her of spreading false information and Kremlin propaganda. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who announced the expulsion, said her actions attacked the fundamental interests of the nation and undermined confidence in French and European institutions. Fedorova headed the French edition of RT, the Russian state broadcaster whose EU transmissions were banned after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In September the European Union froze her assets and barred her from entering the bloc. Moscow took roughly three months to respond to the summer expulsion, and Russian diplomacy framed the ban as a response to it.

Reaction in France

Le Monde condemned the ban as a new obstacle to press freedom and defended Ariane Chemin's independent reporting on Fedorova's activities on French media owned by the Bolloré group. Ouest-France's management said the decision was an infringement of press freedom and information. François-Xavier Lefranc, the newspaper's publishing director and chairman of its management board, responded to AFP.

“Il est grand temps que l'ensemble de la classe politique soit mobilisée pour affirmer qu'il n'y a pas de démocratie sans journalisme.”

Paul Gogo spent nine years in Russia working for several French and Belgian media before returning to France after his visa was not renewed. He said he learned of the ban from the press, at the same time as everyone else, and that Russian authorities had given him no warning. Sacha Houlié linked the Russian measure to his earlier parliamentary work on foreign interference.

“What is intended as a sanction strikes me as recognition of my work against foreign interference in France.”

Paris threatens new sanctions

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot criticised the Russian decision in a post on X and said it confirmed Moscow's ties with Russian authorities. He argued that the four had stood out in protecting French democracy against Russian attempts at interference in public debate. Barrot also reminded that since 2022 European rules have barred Russian lawmakers who back the war of aggression against Ukraine from entering the EU. He said new European sanctions against Russia would be adopted from Monday, 16 November. Zakharova responded that no unfriendly action against Russia would go without an appropriate reply.