"Devastating Personally": British Journalist Says Russia Told Her Never To Return

Sarah Rainsford - one of the British broadcaster's two English-language Moscow correspondents - is being sent home by Russia.

A BBC journalist said on Saturday that Russia was expelling her and had told her she could never return in "devastating" treatment showing the country she reported on for years was turning inwards. In an unusual move at a time of already poor bilateral ties, Russia said Sarah Rainsford - one of the British broadcaster's two English-language Moscow correspondents - was being sent home after London's refusal to give visas to Russian journalists. In a BBC interview, Rainsford said she was shocked by the decision which she felt was part of a wider diplomatic game at a time when Russia's ties with the West were on the slide. The move not to renew her Russian visa beyond the end of this month looked like a technical one, but was not, she said.