Russia Bars Two French Lawmakers and Two Journalists Over RT France Expulsion

Russia's Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that two French lawmakers and two French journalists are barred from entering Russia. The four are lawmakers Sacha Houlie and Arthur Delaporte, Le Monde senior reporter Ariane Chemin, and freelance journalist Paul Gogo.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova presented the bans as retaliation for France's expulsion of Xenia Fedorova, the former head of RT France. Zakharova said the four were banned "for their participation in the harassment of Xenia Fedorova and their calls for her expulsion," as reported by Le Monde.

Who was banned

None of the four people targeted was in Russia, and none had plans to visit in the near future. Moscow did not target French media correspondents currently based in Russia.

Chemin is a senior reporter at Le Monde. With her colleague Ivanne Trippenbach, she investigated how Fedorova obtained a residence permit in France and her ties to billionaire Vincent Bollore. Gogo is a freelance journalist and a former Moscow correspondent. He lived and worked in Russia for nine years until February 2026, when he was unable to renew his visa and stopped working in the country.

The Fedorova case

Fedorova ran RT France from 2017 to 2023. France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered her expulsion in July 2026. Russia's Foreign Ministry answered with a brief statement dated August 6, 2026, calling the French measure unacceptable and a persecution based on fabricated accusations. Wednesday's entry bans are Moscow's next step in that dispute, aimed at two lawmakers and two journalists rather than at French officials.

Houlie treated the ban as a mark of the work itself. "It's quite symbolic that this decision was announced on November 11, the day we commemorate our freedoms. I see it as a medal; it shows our work is effective," he said, as reported by Le Monde.

Reaction in Paris

The French government rejected Moscow's move on Wednesday evening. Benjamin Haddad, the Minister Delegate for Europe, wrote on X: "The Kremlin will not decide what our lawmakers defend or what our journalists write."

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said new European sanctions should be passed as soon as Monday against Russia, targeting its financial system, its shadow fleet and its disinformation network. "On the European side, our position has been clear since Russian lawmakers supported the war of aggression against Ukraine: Since 2022, they are no longer welcome in the European Union," Barrot wrote on X.

Press freedom

Le Monde condemned the ban on Chemin as another obstacle to press freedom in Russia. The paper pointed to the revocation of its Moscow correspondent Benjamin Quenelle's accreditation in early 2025, a move it called unprecedented since 1957. The management of Ouest-France condemned the ban on Gogo as "an attack on press freedom and the right to information."

Russia has banned dozens of Western journalists and lawmakers from entering the country since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Wednesday's list adds two sitting French lawmakers and two reporters to that record, in direct response to the expulsion of the former head of RT's French operation.