Unusual incident in Cyprus concerning Russian journalist

NICOSIA, Oct 7 (Reuters) – A Russian journalist detained in Cyprus for allegedly being a threat to national security has left the island, Cypriot media said on Saturday.

The journalist’s detention on Thursday in Nicosia sparked a rare crisis in relations between Russia and Cyprus, with the Cypriot ambassador summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow for an explanation.

Russian news outlets have identified the journalist as Alexander Gasyuk, who worked in Cyprus for state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He was quoted as telling TASS that he was manhandled by Cypriot police and that he was told his residence permit was being revoked because he was allegedly a security threat.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said any suggestion of inappropriate activities by the journalist were “absolutely far-fetched”.

Cypriot state broadcaster CyBC reported that Gasyuk had left Cyprus late Friday. His family had also left, it reported.

Cyprus has been tight lipped over the incident, other than to say authorities were taking all appropriate measures to protect national security. A foreign ministry spokesperson declined further comment when approached by Reuters on Saturday.

It was unclear how long Gasyuk worked in Cyprus.

Based on his most recent dispatches, he covered an independence day parade in Nicosia on Oct 1 which focused on Russian-made tanks being on display, celebrations by a number of Russians living in Cyprus of annexation of territories in Ukraine and an interview with Russia’s ambassador to the island.

Cyprus and Russia have close cultural and business links, but those have cooled significantly since the war in Ukraine. Nicosia has followed its EU partners in imposing wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow.