MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday Britain’s actions against Russia’s RT television channel could be compared with "carpet bombing" of Russian journalists.

"It is a deliberate policy," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel. "And what is most important it is a system policy. As a matter of fact, it is a policy of ‘carpet bombing’ Russian journalists. We see it in the attitude to Russian journalists when they are expelled from the country or are not let to enter it, when they are declared personae non grata, when they are accused of non-journalist activities without any grounds of proof, when their accounts are closed down and when they are faced with threats. I have lost count of how many threats have been thrown to RT in London, citing some sort of public opinion and the like."

In the current conditions, the Russian side has been forced to "move from diplomatic rhetoric and voicing concerns to practical steps," the Russian diplomat said. "It is not our choice. Regrettably, we have to respond to what is taking place in respect of Russian journalists. We have begun to take symmetrical practical steps." 

"We are not at ease doing this because we understand it only too well that many of these journalists do their job professionally and well," Zakharova said. "But we have to show those who are doing it to Russian journalists how it really feels. It may be unpleasing but effectual."