Moldova Extends Entry Ban on Russian Journalists

Moldovan authorities on Tuesday prevented Marina Safronova, producer for Russia's Vserossiyskaya Gosudarstvennaya Televizionnaya I Radioveshchatelnaya Kompaniya, VGTRK, which is affiliated to state-owned Russia-24 TV - and Zvezda TV channel reporter Alexei Samolyotov - from entering the country.

The two were not allowed to leave the airport at the capital, Chisinau, as authorities signal their continued determination to ban Russian journalists seen as supporting the breakaway region of Transnistria in its drive for secession or separation.

Moldova sees both media outlets as disseminators of Kremlin propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine, the EU and the US, as well as about Transnistria.

The border police said Safronova and Samolyotov "did not specify the purpose of their visit to the Republic of Moldova".

"They said they came on a private visit, but they could not confirm this. Subsequently, their real intentions have been disclosed. The two will return to Russia on the next flight," the police press service said.

Safranova and Samolyotov said they wanted to enter Moldova to take part in the screening of their documentary, "The Battle for Salyut", a film dedicated to the Salyut-7 orbital station in 1985. The documentary presents the story as a battle between the US and Russia over supremacy in space.

Over the past few years, Moldovan authorities have banned the access of numerous Russian journalists accused of being propagandists for the Kremlin. Some of them were also banned from Ukraine for the same reasons.

In September, for example, Moldova banned Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent Daria Aslamova who had come to Chisinau to interview the country's pro-Russian President, Igor Dodon.