Russian commentator Xenia Fedorova has been ordered to leave France, the country’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday. She has been accused of disseminating Kremlin propaganda on French television and radio.
According to French newspaper Liberation, the expulsion order accuses Fedorova of acting “as a conduit for disinformation campaigns orchestrated by the Russian authorities” with the aim of “destabilising public order” in France.
According to the AFP news agency, Fedorova has been placed under house arrest since the order was issued.
Fedorova is the former chief of the Russia Today (RT) in France, which was ultimately banned in the country after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
She stayed in the country and became a commentator for broadcasting outlets owned by French billionaire Vincent Bollore’s media conglomerate.
According to French daily Le Monde, Fedorova has been known to be a “protege” of Bollore.
Fedorova made frequent appearances on the CNews television channel and Europe 1 radio.
She also writes for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, where she has been accused of spreading Kremlin talking points about Ukraine and the West.
‘Serious infringement’ on free speech
Fedorova’s employers reacted to her expulsion saying they were astonished, adding that the move amounted to “a particularly serious infringement of freedom of expression.”
The media group said it would “provide their full support to Ms. Fedorova during this decision.”
The commentator’s lawyer Emmanuel Piwnica told AFP that his client would “immediately” file an appeal against the order.
“Xenia Fedorova is a journalist,” Piwnica told AFP, adding that she has “always carried out her work in the most proper manner possible.”
Macron says Fedorova ‘not a journalist’
Tensions between Fedorova and the French state go back as far as 2017, when President Emmanuel Macron criticized her and implied she was not a journalist.
“When media outlets spread defamatory falsehoods, they are no longer journalists. They are instruments of influence,” Macron said.
In June, Macron was again asked to speak on the subject and he said his opinion had not changed.
Experts on disinformation had previously raised the alarm about the influence of figures like Fedorova in France, ahead of a presidential election next year.
Although there is no evidence of any links between Fedorova and the Kremlin, media advocates have said she should still be regarded as an agent of influence.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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