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Follow the link to learn moreThe expulsion of a Polish journalist from Russia is a symmetrical measure in response to Poland's decision to deprive a Russian journalist working in Poland of his accreditation and residence permit, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"In this context, Russia has taken symmetrical measures in line with the law and, based on the reciprocity principle, has deprived Gazeta Wyborcza journalist Waclaw Radziwinowicz, who worked in Russia, of accreditation," Zakharova said on Facebook on Dec. 18.
"The reason is simple: this has been done exclusively based on the reciprocity principle," she said.
"Starting from today, the Polish journalist has no right to work in Russian Federation territory as a journalist. The relevant explanations have been given both to him personally and to the Polish ambassador to Moscow," Zakharova said.
"This forced measure is not our choice," but "our foreign counterparts should understand consequences of groundless attacks on Russian journalists," she said.
Zakharova pointed out that Leonid Sviridov, a correspondent of the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency, had been expelled from Poland several days ago.
"The Russian journalist did not receive any coherent explanations as to what he did wrong," she said.