Russian official hits back at Germany over restrictions on Russian media

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Saturday criticized Germany over its "ban of Russian media."

Commenting on a statement by the German Embassy in Russia denying that there were any restrictions on Russian journalists in Germany, Maria Zakharova said on Telegram that she had received a message from a German citizen who sent her a photo of their television showing on screen that the Russian Rossiya TV channel was "temporarily unavailable."

"The reason of the problem -- the ban of Russian media in Europe. This man wanted to watch Rossiya TV channel.

"I am looking forward to a comment of the German Embassy in Moscow about the freedom of speech," said Zakharova.

On Friday, the German Embassy said a large number of Russian journalists work in the country without any restrictions.

Earlier, the US, EU and Britain also banned the only Russian international TV channel Russia Today (RT) and news agency Sputnik.

Russia, in turn, withdrew the authorization for the work of some Western media, including the Deutche Welle media group and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.