On 20 August 2025, Russia’s Foreign Ministry added eight more journalists, most of whom are British citizens, to its list of foreign nationals banned from entering Russia, according to an official publication on the ministry’s website and reports by Russian independent media. Several dozen journalists, mainly from English-speaking countries, were included in previous updates to the list.
In its newest round of additions, Russian authorities blacklisted The Guardian journalist Rafael Behr, David Blair of The Daily Telegraph, Byline Times Podcast host Adrian Goldberg, freelance photographer Paul Conroy, The Times columnist Matthew Syed, former The Observer and BBC journalist John Sweeney, Ukraine-baed writer and journalist Zarina Zabrisky (who is an American citizen), as well as Caolan Robertson, an Irish journalist based in Ukraine who works for Times Radio and LBC, and is the author of Caolan Reports, a widely popular journalistic blog on Instagram focused on news from Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed that its decision was a response to the UK’s “ongoing confrontational [anti-Russian] attitude, within the framework of which efforts are being made to demonize our country.”
In its statement, the Foreign Ministry accused the now-blacklisted journalists of “spreading disinformation and unfounded accusations against Russia” in connection with the war in Ukraine, as well as “advocating for a toughening of the West’s anti-Russian policies and increased support” for Ukraine.