New York, November 27, 2024—Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a Wednesday press briefing that German journalists Frank Aischmann and Sven Feller were “ordered to hand in their accreditation” and leave Russian territory “in due time.” Zakharova said the move was a “symmetrical measure” to German authorities’ ban “on the presence and work” of journalists with Russian state-run TV broadcaster Pervyi Kanal (Channel One).
“The Kremlin’s tit-for-tat expulsion of German journalists Frank Aischmann and Sven Feller is yet another act to further restrict independent reporting in the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalists should not be used as political pawns, and Russia should allow Aischmann, Feller, and all other foreign journalists to work in Russia without fear of reprisal.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Pervyi Kanal announced that German authorities were closing its German bureau, and requiring its correspondent Ivan Blagoy and camera operator Dmitry Volkov to leave the country by mid-December.
Berlin’s migration authorities confirmed the journalists’ residence permits were denied in connection with European Union sanctions imposed on Pervyi Kanal in December 2022. German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner denied that German federal authorities were behind the decision.
German public broadcaster ARD, which employs the two German journalists, said in a statement that their expulsion “marks a new low point in relations with Russia.” Jörg Schönenborn, an ARD representative, called the move “a drastic step” and said, “It will once again limit our ability to report from Moscow.”
CPJ’s email to the Russian Foreign Ministry requesting comment did not receive a response.
Russia has a history of expelling foreign reporters. In June, Russian authorities revoked the accreditation of Maria Knips-Witting, a journalist with the Moscow bureau of public broadcaster Austrian Radio and Television (ORF), as a response to Austrian authorities’ expulsion of Ivan Popov, a Vienna-based correspondent of the Russian state news agency TASS.
Since the start of Ukraine’s full-scale invasion, Russian authorities have failed to renew the visas and accreditations of Spanish journalist Xavier Colás, Finnish journalists Arja Paananen and Anna-Lena Laurén, and Dutch journalist Eva Hartog.