Russia did not extend the accreditation of the Finnish journalist

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia refused to extend the accreditation of a Finnish journalist who worked in the country for more than 30 years, since the time of the Soviet Union.

This was reported by IltaSanomat newspaper, whose correspondent is Arya Paananen. The publication “Agentstvo” drew attention to the publication.

Paananen first received a work visa in the USSR in 1990 and has renewed it annually since then. At the end of last year, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia refused to support her in extending her visa and accreditation for work, and on February 8, she was told by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there are no prospects for re-accreditation – this means that Paananen will not be able to work in Russia.

As “Agentstvo” notes, in the summer of 2022 the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, mentioned the activities of Arya Paananen as an example of “baseless anti-Russian propaganda.” This was partly due to the fact that she was the editor of materials in Russian that her newspaper published about the war in Ukraine. In April 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked access to the IltaSanomat website for an article in Russian about civilian victims of the Russian military invasion.

“Some have asked how successful my work in Russia will be in the current conditions. Probably, there will be no work” – wrote the journalist herself is on Twitter.

“They want to ban Paananen from covering what is happening in Russia. By banning Paananen from entering, Russia is actually showing what a good journalist she is and an unpleasant critic for Vladimir Putin,” IltaSanomat editor-in-chief Johanna Lahty said.