Russian journalist Primakov banned entry to Ukraine
Ukrainian Border guards refused entry to Evgeny Primakov, a Russian journalist, TV presenter, adviser to the speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and head of the Civic Chamber's Commission on media issues. Primakov himself reported this on Facebook.
He was also banned from entering the country for a period of five years. "I was not allowed into Ukraine. They said that I represent a threat to the security of Ukraine and announced that I was banned from entering the country for five years. The particular reason was not explained," Primakov wrote.
He said that he was going to attend the OSCE conference and noted that the Ukrainian border guards treated him politely, "without threats."
"I went here for the OSCE expert conference on freedom of the press and the OSCE confirmed my participation by phone but Ukrainian colleagues were not happy about it... and so, they stopped me during border control, took me to a room where they politely told me that I am a threat to national security. In Russian, by the way,” Primakov said.
He added: “I signed a paper stating that they told me all this (after checking first if I do not now owe them a kidney or some kind of cooperation, but everything seemed to be right). Then two servicemen took me to waiting room and promised to return the passport before the flight, which would be in the evening.”
In May, two representatives of Russian media were not allowed into Ukraine for the Champions League final.