ARD employees expelled from Russia in retaliation

Moscow expels two ARD employees from Russia because of the closure of a Russian broadcaster in Germany. As the “” reports, it is the ARD correspondent Frank Aischmann and the technical employee of the ARD studio in Moscow, Sven Feller.

As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced on Wednesday, this is a retaliatory measure for the “ban on work and residence” imposed by the German authorities on the correspondents of the Russian broadcaster Perwy Kanal (First Channel) in Germany. In response to this, appropriate measures would be taken against the journalists from the ARD’s Moscow office. Russia is fundamentally ready to accredit new ARD personnel. But this can only happen if Russian journalists can do their work in Berlin, the ministry explains. ARD confirmed the incident. The people are the correspondent Frank Aischmann and a technical employee.

Russia had previously accused Germany of ordering a closure of the German office of the Russian state broadcaster Perwy Kanal (First Channel) and has announced retaliatory measures. The television station’s Berlin correspondent, Iwan Blagoj, reported on the decision in Germany in a five-minute report. Accordingly, the Russian broadcaster is described in a document by the German authorities as a threat to Germany’s security and a dangerous propaganda organ.

The federal government has rejected the accusation of closing a Russian TV channel. “The Russian claims are false, the federal government has not closed the office,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin on Wednesday. He could “only assume” that it was a residence law measure by the state authorities.