One of those targeted says the ban is "recognition" of his work against foreign interference, while the EU accuses the former RT France chief of spreading Kremlin talking points on French television.
French MPs Sacha Houlié and Arthur Delaporte, along with journalists Ariane Chemin and Paul Gogo, have been banned from entering Russia. The Russian foreign ministry announced the measure on Wednesday in retaliation for France’s expulsion of pro-Kremlin commentator Xenia Fedorova.
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The four were targeted “because of their involvement in the harassment of Fedorova and their calls for her expulsion”, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing.
Fedorova, the former head of RT France, has since become one of the media faces of the group owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Since late July, she has been subject to an expulsion order and an asset freeze in France.
She has also been under EU sanctions since September.
According to a document (source in French) published in the EU’s Official Journal on 24 September, Fedorova is accused of relaying “messages in line with those promoted by the Russian authorities”.
“Xenia Fedorova has notably presented Western and European support for Ukraine as a factor prolonging the war, has described Russia as a country seeking peace while portraying Europe as advocating confrontation, has challenged established facts relating to the illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, and has disseminated messages depicting European and NATO policies as threats to European security”, the document states.
In its decision, the EU notes that since RT’s broadcasting activities were suspended, Fedorova has appeared regularly on several French media outlets, including the TV channel CNews, the radio station Europe 1 and the newspaper JDD, “through which she has continued to spread these messages to a wide audience in France”.
Who are the figures in the Kremlin’s sights?
Arthur Delaporte is a Socialist MP. Last June, during question time in parliament, he challenged Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez over the renewal of Fedorova’s 10-year residence permit. He condemned what he called an “undue and dysfunctional” decision by the prefecture, the local state authority that issues residence permits, and described Fedorova as a “Kremlin propagandist” and an “agent destabilising our country”.
“Are you going to withdraw her permit and launch expulsion proceedings?” he asked.
Sacha Houlié chaired the National Assembly’s law committee from 2022 to 2024 and sits on the parliamentary intelligence delegation. In November 2023, he wrote a report (source in French) on France’s vulnerability to foreign interference, which sets out in detail, over several pages, the methods Moscow favours to extend its influence in France and around the world.
Reacting to the ban on X, Houlié called the decision "recognition of my work against foreign interference in France".
He added that the sanction "invites me to pursue this just commitment to defending France’s fundamental interests".
Houlié is an MP for the Place publique party and a supporter of Raphaël Glucksmann, a candidate in France’s presidential election. Glucksmann has previously said he has been targeted by Russian online “destabilisation” operations.
Ariane Chemin, a senior reporter at the French daily Le Monde, is also a writer. In May, she published The War - These are Proper Nouns, a literary account of the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Paul Gogo, a journalist who works for several news outlets, lived and worked in Russia for nine years until February 2026. He moved there in 2017, having been based in Ukraine since 2014.