Overview
- Russia's foreign ministry announced entry bans for MPs Sacha Houlié and Arthur Delaporte and journalists Ariane Chemin and Paul Gogo, formally forbidding them from entering Russian territory.
- The ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the bans respond to what she called the MPs' and reporters' role in harassing Xenia Fedorova and calling for her expulsion.
- France issued expulsion orders and froze the assets of Fedorova in late July after French politicians accused her of acting as a pro‑Kremlin influence, a step Moscow condemned as political persecution.
- Houlié and Delaporte publicly pressed the French government on Fedorova's residency, with Houlié calling for her permit to be withdrawn and Delaporte labeling her a destabilizing agent in parliament.
- The move formalizes a tit‑for‑tat diplomatic escalation that may restrict travel for the named French figures and further strain Franco‑Russian relations over security and press‑freedom disputes.