London
The BBC’s Moscow correspondent said Saturday she was told by the Russian authorities that she “can’t ever come back to Russia” after her visa was not renewed and she was effectively expelled from the country.
Moscow told veteran correspondent Sarah Rainsford that she would have to leave the country when her current visa expires in August, at a time of simmering tensions between Russia and the West and a crackdown on independent media.
“This is not a failure to renew my visa, although technically that’s kind of what it is.
I’m being expelled, and I’ve been told that I can’t come back ever,” Rainsford told BBC Radio 4.
The journalist called the decision “devastating personally” and “shocking.” “It’s not just any old place” she said.—APP
