Russia banned Cypriot officials from entering the country due to expulsion of Gasiuk and Doinikov
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a ban on entry into the country for officials of the Republic of Cyprus who are connected to the revocation of accreditation and deportation of a Russian government newspaper correspondent from Cyprus last fall. The ban is in response to "unacceptable" actions by Cypriot authorities in October 2023 against Alexander Gasiuk, the correspondent for "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" accredited in Nicosia, and D. Doinikov, a staff member of the Russian embassy in Cyprus. The ban is based on Federal Law No. 114-FZ of August 15, 1996, regarding the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation. The ban applies to three officials of the Ministry of Interior of Cyprus, according to diplomatic sources. The Russian reaction, after three and a half months, expresses Moscow's willingness to defuse the crisis with a planned and appropriate response, rather than escalate it. In October of last year, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had protested in strong terms against the "unacceptable and provocative actions of the Cypriot authorities," claiming that the Cypriot secret services had attempted to arrest the Russian journalist using brute force for subsequent deportation, under the pretext of revoking his residence permit on the grounds of "threatening national security."