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UK embassy says refusal to renew BBC journalist’s visa is unjustified action by Moscow

Sarah Rainsford’s visa is expiring on August 31

MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. The refusal to extend the Russian working visa of BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford is an unjustified action, the UK embassy in Moscow wrote on its Twitter account on Friday.

"The threatened expulsion of award-winning BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford is an unjustified action by the Russian authorities. We urge them to reconsider this retrograde step which can only do further damage to media freedom in Russia," the tweet says.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow had explained the reasons for the decision to BBC representatives. She recalled that Russia had repeatedly warned about retaliatory measures in response to "to London’s visa abuses against a Russian correspondent in Britain," but the BBC kept on ignoring it.

According to Bloomberg, Sarah Rainsford’s visa is expiring on August 31.