EU sanctions Xenia Fedorova: Le Figaro says 'Russian columnist', Libération says 'the Kremlin's voice in France'

What both reports say. The EU has added Xenia Fedorova to its list of sanctioned people. Le Figaro and Libération both carry the news, published 40 seconds apart. Neither names the EU body that adopted the listing.

What they call her.

The government's line. Le Figaro quotes Barrot, who "welcomed" the listing: France and the EU "will continue to hinder the destabilisation activities carried out by Russia on our soil". That is the only charge in either report, and it comes from the French government.

What France did first. Libération says she was "expelled from French territory during the summer". It does not say who expelled her or when. Le Figaro says France sanctioned her first but does not say how.

What is not settled - Whether France expelled her: only Libération says so. - What she is accused of doing, in her own case: neither report says. - Her answer: neither report carries one. - Which EU body adopted the listing, and on what grounds: neither report says.

What this is about. The European Union has placed a Russian media figure, Xenia Fedorova, under sanctions, taking a French national measure against her to the whole Union.

How it got here. The EU began sanctioning Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014. It widened the sanctions sharply after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That same spring the EU suspended the broadcasting of the Russian state channels RT and Sputnik across the Union, arguing that they served the Kremlin's war effort. Fedorova ran RT's French channel, RT France, which closed in early 2023 after French authorities froze its assets. Libération now describes her as a "figure de CNews", a French private news channel. The reports say France sanctioned her before the EU did. Only Libération says she was expelled, during the summer.

Who the actors are. In the EU, a sanctions listing is adopted by the Council of the EU, where member-state governments sit, and it needs every one of them to agree. A listing usually means an asset freeze and a travel ban in all member states. France pushes the case as a member state. Its foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, frames it as a fight against Russian "destabilisation". Fedorova is the target. CNews is named because she appeared on it.

What is at stake. The EU uses sanctions against people it says spread Russian state propaganda. Critics of that approach argue that punishing a journalist or commentator by government decision, not by a court, puts pressure on press freedom. Supporters argue that state propaganda in wartime is not journalism. Which of the two labels in today's reports fits Fedorova is the question on that line.

Where it stands. She is on the EU list. The reports we hold do not give the legal grounds, the date France acted, or any response from her.