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Another Russian journalist not allowed to Moldova amid protests

The staff at the Chisinau airport said they acted upon the instruction of the Moldovan government
People in front of the government building, during protest in Chisinau EPA/DUMITRU DORU
People in front of the government building, during protest in Chisinau
© EPA/DUMITRU DORU

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. A Rossiya Segodnya reporter, Timur Hursandov, has been denied entry to Moldova with no explanation offered for the move, the Russian news agency said on Friday.

The staff at the Chisinau airport said they acted upon the instruction of the Moldovan government. The border guards and the representatives of the security service gave no further details.

Earlier in the day, TASS photo correspondent Stanislav Krasilnikov, who was due to cover protests in Chisinau, was also denied entry to Moldova and was sent back to Moscow.

The journalist flew to Chisinau on Thursday night. At the airport, Moldova’s border guards stopped him and asked him about the purposes of his trip. After Krasilnikov said he was a TASS photo correspondent, he was not allowed into the country and was ordered to fly back to Moscow.

Krasilnikov is not the first Russian reporter who arrived to cover demonstrations in Chisinau and was ordered out of the country upon the decision of Moldova’s authorities.

Earlier reports said Moldova had denied entry to REN TV cameraman Alexander Malyshev and LifeNews correspondent Kirill Olkov. Alexander Balitsky, a reporter of the All-Russia TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation (VGTRK), has been banned to enter Moldova for five years.

On Wednesday, riots occurred outside the parliament in Moldova where the new government was endorsed. Thousands of opposition supporters stormed the building saying the cabinet was illegal. Later, thousands of supporters of the opposition Party of Socialists, Our Party and the Dignity and Truth (DA) civic platform staged a picket of the building.

Moldova’s opposition resumed protests on Friday demanding the resignation of the country’s authorities.