BBC protests Russian refusal to renew its journalist's visa

Russia has refused to renew a visa for a BBC journalist in Moscow — an effective expulsion amid simmering tensions with Britain

MOSCOW -- Russia has refused to renew a visa for a BBC journalist in Moscow — an effective expulsion amid simmering tensions with Britain — and the BBC condemned the move Friday as an assault on media freedom. Rossiya 24 said late Thursday that BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford will have to leave Russia before the end of the month when her visa expires. It said the Foreign Ministry's decision not to extend her visa came in retaliation to British refusal to grant or extend visas to Russian journalists. “The expulsion of Sarah Rainsford is a direct assault on media freedom which we condemn unreservedly," BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement. “Sarah is an exceptional and fearless journalist. She is a fluent Russian speaker who provides independent and in-depth reporting of Russia and the former Soviet Union. Her journalism informs the BBC’s audiences of hundreds of millions of people around the world." Rainsford, who first came to the former Soviet Union nearly thirty years ago, reported from Russia for five years from 2000 and has been on her current deployment in Moscow since 2014. She also reported from Havana, Madrid and Istanbul.