Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question on opening a criminal case over an attack against Russian journalists

Question: The Russian Ministry of the Interior has opened a criminal case over a complaint to the police filed by a correspondent of a Russian online publication. Last October at Vnukovo airport, the girl asked uncomfortable questions of a British diplomat, which caused him to push her hard and tear off the operator's Press badge. How can the Russian Foreign Ministry comment on such actions by British diplomats?

Maria Zakharova: We have noted on many occasions that the actions of diplomats from some Western countries towards members of the Russian media not only go far beyond the limits of diplomatic decorum, but also fail to correspond in principle to the high status of a foreign diplomat.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry has sent an official note to the British diplomatic mission in Moscow, which states, in particular: "The Ministry expects the Embassy to provide full assistance to the Russian law enforcement authorities in the investigation of this criminal case, including participation of Embassy staff in the procedural acts... The Russian side calls on the Embassy to respond promptly and appropriately to subsequent requests from law enforcement authorities in the course of these proceedings and not to evade participation in the investigative actions.”