France expels pro-Kremlin commentator Xenia Fedorova for disinformation

Perspective Analysis

France ordered the expulsion of Russian commentator Xenia Fedorova on July 29, 2026, after the Interior Ministry determined that her work on French television and radio served as a conduit for Kremlin-orchestrated disinformation aimed at destabilizing public order. The order, first reported by Libération and confirmed by the ministry to AFP, states that her behavior “porte atteinte aux intérêts fondamentaux de l’Etat” and that her continued presence constitutes “une menace particulièrement grave et actuelle pour l’ordre public.” Fedorova, 45, previously led RT France until the European Union banned the channel in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She remained in France and secured regular appearances as a commentator on CNews and Europe 1, plus a column in Le Journal du Dimanche, all part of the media holdings of conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

The ministry accused her of deploying narratives that relayed Russian authorities’ disinformation campaigns, manipulated public opinion, and undermined French and European citizens’ confidence in their institutions. The document explicitly links these activities to efforts to destabilize order inside France. Fedorova is already barred from Germany, according to a source close to the case. Since the order took effect she has been placed under house arrest and must report daily to a police station, which prevents her from working normally. Her lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, announced an immediate appeal and described the decision as a serious infringement on the freedom of expression of a journalist who had always conducted her work properly. Canal+ and Lagardère issued a joint statement supporting her and warning of “une atteinte particulièrement grave à la liberté d’expression et au pluralisme des opinions.”

This measure sits inside a longer pattern of European restrictions on Russian state media. RT France was shut down in 2023 after the initial EU-wide ban. Fedorova’s continued access to French airwaves through private channels had already drawn scrutiny. In May 2026 a controversy erupted over the ten-year renewal of her residence permit, with reports that she had gained influence inside the Bolloré group. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez at the time said such renewals occur routinely for foreigners who meet the legal conditions and denied any special intervention. French President Emmanuel Macron and government spokespeople have repeatedly labeled her a “propagandiste” of the Kremlin. Eurodeputies from the Renew group have called for EU-level sanctions against her, citing her dissemination of “narratifs grossièrement manipulatoires” on the war in Ukraine and the European Union.

Fedorova’s defenders portray the expulsion as an attack on journalistic pluralism rather than a response to foreign interference. Her appearances have included claims that the West decided to prolong the Ukraine conflict and that Europe risks going to war with Russia. Several of her statements on CNews prompted complaints to France’s media regulator, which are still under review. The government has distinguished her activities from outright espionage but has drawn a line at content that it says harms fundamental national interests. The expulsion order does not accuse her of direct coordination with Russian intelligence services; it rests on the cumulative effect of her public commentary.

The five outlets that covered the story in the first 24 hours reported the same core sequence of events and quoted the same passages from the ministerial order. Radio France described her as the “propagandiste” du Kremlin whose expulsion would remove one of Russia’s main influence relays inside France. La Libre led with the order’s language on threats to state interests and added the detail of her existing German ban. Le Temps reported the disinformation charges alongside the house-arrest conditions and the employers’ objections. LSM stressed the propaganda risk and her potential influence ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election. The Moscow Times, an independent Russian newsroom operating in exile from Amsterdam, confined itself to the facts of the order, her past role at RT France, and her subsequent positions in the Bolloré outlets without additional editorial characterization.

No outlet in this set claimed that the French government fabricated the residence-permit renewal or that Fedorova faced criminal charges beyond the administrative expulsion. None disputed that she continues to appear on French media defending Russian positions on Ukraine. The accounts converge on treating the measure as an administrative action under existing immigration and public-order powers rather than a novel legal innovation. Minor differences appear only in emphasis: French and Belgian reporting foreground the security justification contained in the order itself, while the Swiss report gives equal weight to the free-expression objections raised by her employers and lawyer. The Latvian report adds context about upcoming French elections and regional concerns over Russian information operations. The exiled Moscow Times avoids both the security rhetoric and the persecution framing that state-controlled Russian media have used in other cases.

The French government’s account aligns most closely with the documented record. The ministerial order supplies explicit language tying Fedorova’s commentary to destabilization efforts, and her employment history at a banned state-funded network followed by continued pro-Kremlin commentary on private French outlets supplies the factual predicate. European states have already removed Russian state media from their airwaves and coordinated sanctions; extending administrative removal to individual non-citizen commentators who sustain the same line represents a logical next step in hardening information boundaries. Employers’ objections correctly note that the decision curtails her ability to speak on French media, yet they do not contest the accuracy of the ministry’s description of her content. The measure carries low political cost inside France and high demonstrative value toward Moscow, signaling that sustained foreign propaganda operations by non-citizens will no longer be tolerated even when routed through domestic private platforms.