(Reuters) – Russia summoned Cyprus’s ambassador to Moscow on Friday after what it called “unacceptable and provocative actions” against a Russian journalist and an employee of the Russian embassy in Nicosia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said security personnel in Cyprus violently detained and injured a journalist working for the state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper whom they said posed a threat to national security.
“We consider the references to the inappropriate activities of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent and the violation of the administrative regime of his stay in Cyprus as absolutely far-fetched,” the ministry said.
Russia demands the immediate release of the journalist, an explanation of the incident, and an official apology from the Cypriot authorities, the ministry added.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
