Russia announced on Thursday that it withdrew accreditation from Le Monde's Moscow correspondent, Benjamin Quénelle, in response to Paris's denial of a visa to a journalist from the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. This move leaves Le Monde without a Moscow presence for the first time since the 1950s.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow had warned of retaliation due to France's actions. She emphasized that Quénelle's accreditation was not extended due to a "technical extension," not political reasons.
Le Monde criticized what they called the "covert expulsion" of their journalist. The newspaper's director, Jérôme Fenoglio, expressed concern over being unable to have a correspondent in Moscow for the first time in over six decades.
Fenoglio emphasized the importance of accurate reporting from Russia and condemned the expulsion of their journalist, who had been reporting from Russia for over 20 years continuously.
Amid a tightening grip on information since the 2022 Ukraine invasion, some Western media outlets have exited Moscow. The arrest of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich in 2023 furthered this trend, leaving few American reporters in Russia.
Russia has faced criticism from Western media outlets for crackdowns on press freedom and control over information. Conversely, Russian officials claim Western coverage is biased and unfair.
In the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Russia ranked 162nd out of 180 countries, reflecting growing concerns about press freedom in the country.