The Interior Ministry issued a deportation order on 29 July against Xenia Fedorova, who ran RT France until the broadcaster was shut down in 2023. The order states that she serves as a conduit for a disinformation campaign organised by the Russian authorities and that she is seeking to destabilise public order in France. Her lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, has said she will appeal immediately.
Since RT France closed, Fedorova has worked as a commentator inside the media group built by Vincent Bollore, appearing regularly on the CNews channel and on Europe 1 and writing for Le Journal du Dimanche. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has previously accused her of spreading Russian disinformation. The distinction the state is drawing is that her platform is French and mainstream while, in the government's reading, the content is directed from elsewhere.
The legal route chosen is the interesting part. France did not prosecute a publication or sanction a broadcaster. It used the administrative power to remove a foreign national on public order grounds, which is faster than a press case, does not require proving anything about a specific article, and moves the argument from what was said to who is saying it and on whose behalf.
That is also why the appeal matters beyond one person. The presidential election is next year, concern about Russian interference is running high, and if a public order expulsion is upheld against a commentator working openly on national television, the state has established a tool it can use again. If it is overturned, the government is back to press law and the slower burden of proof that comes with it.