Pro-Russian Commentator Faces Expulsion from France for Disinformation

Pro-Russian commentator Xenia Fedorova has been served a ministerial expulsion order in France, accused of being a conduit for disinformation campaigns orchestrated by Russian authorities to destabilize public order. The French Interior Ministry cited her actions as undermining the nation's fundamental interests and posing a serious threat to public order.

“

Xenia Fedorova is a journalist.

Fedorova, a former head of the Russian state channel RT in France, which has been banned in the EU since March 2022, regularly promotes Kremlin viewpoints in French media. She appears on outlets like CNews and Europe 1 and writes a column for the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. Her expulsion order, confirmed by the Interior Ministry, states that her narratives contribute to the dissemination of disinformation aimed at manipulating public opinion and eroding trust in European and French institutions.

“

Her behavior undermines the fundamental interests of the State and her presence on French territory constitutes, for this reason, a particularly serious and current threat to public order.

Fedorova, who denies the allegations, intends to immediately appeal the expulsion order. Her lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, emphasized that she is a journalist. Her employers, Canal+ and Lagardère, denounced the decision as a "particularly serious attack on freedom of expression." Fedorova is currently under house arrest, required to report daily to a police station, which prevents her from working normally. She is also banned from entering Germany.

“

In deploying her narratives, the commentator acts as a relay for disinformation campaigns piloted by the Russian authorities with the aim of destabilizing public order.