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Russia imposes entry ban on Cypriot officials in retaliatory move — Foreign Ministry

Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent Alexander Gasyuk was detained on October 5 in Nicosia

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Russia is imposing an entry ban on a number of Cypriot officials in retaliation for unacceptable actions against a Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent and a Russian embassy staffer, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said in a news release.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry on January 18 notified the ambassador of Cyprus in Moscow of the retaliatory measures in connection with unacceptable actions by the Cypriot authorities (in October 2023) in relation to the correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta A. G. Gasyuk, accredited in Nicosia, and an employee of the Russian embassy, D. V. Doinikov. The officials of the Republic of Cyprus, directly involved in the provocation, are banned from entering the territory of our country in accordance with the federal law On the Rules of Departure from the Russian Federation and Entry into the Russian Federation of August 15, 1996 № 114-FZ)," the Foreign Ministry said.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent Alexander Gasyuk was detained on October 5 in Nicosia. At the moment of detention he was in a car near the house where he lives with his family. Force was used against the journalist and his hand was injured. Later, the journalist was taken to hospital. On October 7, he returned to Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that Gasyuk's expulsion was another in a string of moves in the Western campaign of suppressing any sources of alternative information.

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