INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russias state-run news company RIA Novostisaid Wednesday that its Athens bureau would shut down after the Greek authorities declined to
renew journalism accreditation for its chief correspondent.According to the news company, Greeces Foreign Ministry declined to renew bureau
chief Gennady Melniks 2025 accreditation without description
Melniks 2024 accreditation was renewed with delays, RIA Novosti said.Greeces Foreign Ministry did not respond to The Moscow Times request
for comment.RIA Novosti developed its Athens bureau ahead of the 2004 Summer Olympics.The agency is among several Russian state media
outlets approved by the EU for spreading propaganda associated to Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The news agency claimed that the Greek
authorities have actually limited its reporters from covering particular events over the past 3 years.Russias Foreign Ministry stated Greece
in May 2022terminated the operations of the Sputnik news company, which is part of the state-funded media group Rossiya Segodnya, alongside
RIA Novosti and the broadcaster RT.Rossiya Segodnya called the choice a gross infraction of totally free speech.
