UK protests Russian refusal to renew BBC journalist’s visa

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has refused to renew a visa for a BBC journalist in Moscow — an effective expulsion amid simmering tensions with Britain. The U.K. government and the BBC on Friday condemned the move as assault on media freedom. Russia’s state Rossiya 24 TV station said 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 Rainsford’s visa came in retaliation to British refusal to grant or extend visas to Russian journalists. Russia’s relations with the West have sunk to the lowest levels since the Cold War, following Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, accusations of Russian interference with elections and hacking attacks.