unquote, the relevant authorities, which, if you ask any russian, is basically a euphemism for russia s security services. so your expulsion is coming this isn t just you, obviously. this is a larger crackdown on foreign journalists who are in russia, the most extreme example, of course, being evan gershkovich who was arrested on espionage charges nearly five months ago. he has been in russian custody ever since, even though obviously he is not a spy. the you know evan well. what is it like being a foreign journalist in russia knowing that could happen to someone in your ranks? yeah, absolutely. you asked me what i felt when i heard that decision when they told me that my visa wouldn t be renewed. and that ties into what you just said about evan. so, i think, in a way, we feel like we ve lost the right to be surprised since russia launched its full-scale invacation of
after reporting there for the past ten years. eva, thank you so much for being with us this evening. can you tell us, how did you find out that you were being kicked out of russia, and what went through your mind when you learned that you had just six days to get out of the country? thanks so much for having me. so, foreign reporters, in order to be able to work and live in russia, you need two documents. you need an accreditation from russia s foreign ministry and a visa. and since russia launched its full-scale invasion of ukraine in february 2022, foreign reporters are supposed to reapply for those documents every three months. so that s quite a lot. and basically that s exactly what i did. and a week before my old visa and accreditation were set to expire, i got a phone call from a representative of the foreign ministry, and they said that a decision had been taken that my visa wouldn t be renewed, and apparently that that decision had been taken by, quote,
put me on short term visas. then i became the news as state television announced i had to leave. after tense negotiations, i had been allowed to enter russia, but only to pack. i was then told my visa wouldn t be renewed. supposedly what happened to a russian reporter in london though that was two years ago. it s happening as the pressure on russian journalists who don t toe the kremlin line is intensifying. dozhd tv has just been added to a growing blacklist of media labelled foreign agents for getting funds from abroad. the status of foreign agents means that we dozhd we are enemies of the state. the pretending of being a democracy is over. it is very bad and it could become much worse any time. so i m leaving a country i first came to as the soviet
i was then told my visa wouldn t be renewed. supposedly what happened to a russian reporter in london though that was two years ago. it s happening as the pressure on russian journalists who don t toe the kremlin line is intensifying. dozhd tv has just been added to a growing blacklist of media labelled foreign agents for getting funds from abroad. the status of foreign agents means that we dozhd we are enemies of the state. the pretending of being a democracy is over. it is very bad and it could become much worse any time. so i m leaving a country i first came to as the soviet union fell apart, when free speech all freedoms were new and precious. it feels like today s russia is moving in reverse. the bbc continues to press the authorities in moscow
vladimir putin is presenting this as just another working visit. .. i ve reported from russia for two decades, the whole span of vladimir putin s presidency. there have been highs, like the world cup. but i ve also charted the slow erosion of freedoms here the crackdown on dissent. a year ago, the government put me on short term visas. then i became the news as state television announced i had to leave. after tense negotiations, i had been allowed to enter russia, but only to pack. i was then told my visa wouldn t be renewed. supposedly what happened to a russian reporter in london though that was two years ago. it s happening as the pressure on russian journalists who don t toe the kremlin line is intensifying. dozhd tv has just been added to a growing blacklist of media labelled foreign agents for getting funds from abroad.