Russia announced on Thursday that imposes an entry ban on certain Cypriot officials in retaliation “for unacceptable actions against a correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Aleksandr Gasiuk) and an employee of the Russian embassy.”

The Russian journalist was arrested in Cyprus in October and deported. According to information from the KYPE, the decision concerns three officials of the Ministry of Interior of Cyprusas described by a diplomatic source, without, however, releasing their names.

“The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on January 18 the ambassador of Cyprus in Moscow about the reprisals in connection with unacceptable actions of the Cypriot authorities (in October 2023) in relation to the correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta AG Gasyuk, accredited in Nicosia, and an employee of of the Russian Embassy, ​​DV Doinikov. It is prohibited for officials of the Republic of Cyprus, amiddlemen involved in the challenge, to enter the territory of our country in accordance with the federal law on the rules of departure from the Russian Federation and entry into the Russian Federation of August 15, 1996 № 114-FZ),” the foreign ministry said.

“The correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta was arrested on October 5 in Nicosia. At the time of the arrest he was in a car near the house where he lives with his family. Against the journalist he was assaulted and injured in the arm. Later, the journalist was taken to the hospital. On October 7, he returned to Russia,” the TASS agency claims.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that Gashiuk’s deportation was “another series of moves in the Western campaign to suppress any source of alternative information.”

According to diplomatic sources cited by the Cypriot news agency, the Russian journalist during his arrest had resisted and was expelled as was a threat to the country’s security.