France to deport pro-Russian propagandist Xenia Fedorova

Submission statement: deportation of a Russian journalist with direct ties to the Kremlin and embedded within a right-wing billionaire's media network, an event at the intersection of freedom of speech, press freedoms, defensive democracy, struggle against foreign interferences and collaborationism with hostile powers.

The Interior Ministry issued today a deportation order against Xenia Fedorova, a Russian journalist who had been in the crosshairs of the government for years due to her ties to the Kremlin as the former head of RT France. The Ministry justified the order on ground of national security, explaining that Fedorova was a "direct conduit of the disinformation campaigns piloted by the Russian state to destabilize the public order in France", accusing her of "attempting to manipulate public opinion."

Fedorova, 45, was sent to France to pilot the creation and management of the Paris section of Russia Today in 2017, as part of the Russian state's expansion of its soft power in Western Europe. RT was closed one week after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine amid a crackdown against Russia's propaganda networks in Europe.

Xenia Fedorova was granted new opportunities by Vincent Bolloré, one of France's wealthiest businessmen who built a media empire in recent years to steer public opinion towards his vision of an ultraconservative, Christian and zero-immigration country. Fedorova notably found work at CNews, Bolloré's flagship TV, and Europe 1, its radio equivalent, as a regular pundit who delivered verbatim the Kremlin's narrative of the war, which she calls the "special military operation", denying that Ukraine is a sovereign country, accusing the West of provoking the invasion, and casting doubt on the reality of Russian war crimes, including the mass abductions of Ukrainian children.

Outside of her shows and on-air interventions, Xenia Fedorova was described by multiple investigations, based on anonymous sources, of wielding considerable influence over Bolloré's news outlets, contributing to steer the discourse towards overtly pro-Russian positions, notably by firing journalists who opposed her.

The French government had been monitoring Fedorova's activities since her arrival in the country nearly a decade ago, and was under pressure after the revelation that her visa had been renewed in 2024, two years after RT's closure and as Russian interferences grew in scale and intensity. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed in June that the government was building up a case against Fedorova, focusing on her direct ties with the Russian state to prevent challenges over freedom of speech.

Fedorova is now under house arrest and banned from working, awaiting a deportation that could be complicated by logistical challenges and a tenuous relationship between French and Russian diplomatic services. She has announced a legal challenge against her deportation order.

The announcement of Fedorova's deportation was warmly welcomed among Emmanuel Macron's ruling centrist bloc, with MEP Nathalie Loiseau commenting "better late than never". Socialist Party MP Arthur Delaporte, who had questioned the government over Fedorova's visa renewal, also cheered for her deportation.

The announcement was sharply criticized on the far-right, with National Rally MEP Thierry Mariani, who lamented "the silencing of one of the few dissident voices over the official, authorized narrative of the Ukraine war", and denounced the "Eurodictatorship". Fedorova received the full support of her employers, with Canal+ and Groupe Lagardère denouncing a "severe attack against freedom of speech."