On 21 March 2024, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that its Moscow correspondent Xavier Colas had been expelled from Russia. The newspaper called the move an attack on press freedom.
According to the outlet, Russian authorities refused to extend Colas’ visa, and gave the journalist 24 hours to leave the country after he was unable to receive a renewal. Colas had been working as a reporter in Russia for the past 12 years and was also a correspondent for the French public broadcaster RFI.
Colas was notified of this decision by a Russian official, who threatened him with unspecified “problems” if he did not leave before his work visa expired, El Mundo wrote.
It said that in recent months Colas had been visited at his home by police officers who asked him to “stop covering demonstrations by the wives of Russian soldiers” which is “one of the few visible signs of discontent with the war” in Ukraine, according to the outlet.
“Refusal to renew a journalist’s visa is one of the usual tools” used by the Russian authorities to “undermine freedom of expression,” El Mundo added, criticizing the “threats” and “pressure” used against journalists working there.
Colas, who recently published a book in Spain about his years working in Russia, entitled “Putinistan,” said he had “no regrets” in a message posted on X.
“I have simply done my job: I have told what is going on, I have spoken to the people who are suffering because of it and I have explained who is responsible for what is happening,” he wrote.