Lithuania has decided to deport a group of Russian state journalists on the grounds that they posed a threat to national security, Russian state news agency TASS reported Thursday.
Correspondents of the Russian state television and radio network VGTRK, which operates the popular TV news channel Russia-1, got in trouble with the Lithuanian authorities while they tried to interview Russian opposition politicians at a forum in Vilnius, the report said.
Russia-1 released a video showing a journalist trying to ask questions but being pushed back by security in the hotel that was hosting the forum.
The "Free Russia" forum included chessmaster-turned-political activist Garry Kasparov and Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina, as well as other prominent members of Russia's political opposition, according to its website.
The Baltic News Service reported that the journalists, including VGTRK correspondent Pavel Zarubin, fraudulently attempted to get into the event.
