Moscow Offices Of Canadian Broadcaster To Be Closed As Russia Retaliates

Russia today said it was closing the Moscow offices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in retaliation for Ottawa's banning of Russian state media outlet RT.

"A decision was made to take retaliatory measures in connection with Canada's actions, in this case to close the Moscow offices of Canadian television and radio broadcasting company CBC, including the cancellation of the accreditations and Russian visas of its journalists," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Canada in March formally banned RT and RT France from its airwaves, saying their programming was "not consistent with Canadian broadcasting standards".

RT and state-controlled outlet Sputnik have been blocked in most Western countries since Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, accused of spreading propaganda.

Ms Zakharova said Canada's decision had been "Russophobic" and that the CBC had become "propaganda noise".

"Any alternative view is declared to be Kremlin disinformation," she said.

Canada has been a strong supporter of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia and among those pushing hardest for harsh sanctions against Moscow.

Moscow has in response issued travel bans on several hundred Canadians, including senior officials, lawmakers and journalists.

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