Cyprus’ three media outlets hit by a ban from Russia’s foreign ministry pledged on Tuesday they would continue to do their job unhindered by the developments.

Russia’s foreign ministry released a list of 81 media outlets from 25 EU member states, as well as pan-European outlets, whose broadcasts it said would no longer be available on Russian territory.

In Cyprus, this entailed newspapers Cyprus Mail, Politis, and news outlet Cyprus Times.

Commenting on the ban, Cyprus Mail’s Chief Οperating Οfficer Michalis Iacovides told the Cyprus News Agency “we will continue to do our work in the same way we have done so far.”

He outlined the paper’s main source for foreign news is Reuters as the Cyprus Mail does not have a foreign correspondent in Russia. Iacovides underlined he had no knowledge on whether there was something from a Reuters piece that irked Moscow in any way.

He added he could not understand the reasoning behind this ban, as he did not know if there were any Cypriot outlets which were actually in favour of Russia’s invasion to Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Iacovides specified there is no readership to the Cyprus Mail from Russia, according to data on hand.

Meanwhile, director for Politis, Dionysis Dionysiou said they tried and continue to try to do their jobs as objectively as possible.

If this is not good enough for Moscow, then it is well within its rights to impose penalties, he added.

“We will continue to do our job in a purely journalistic and ethical manner.”

Editor-in-chief for Cyprus Times Myria Avraamidou said they were monitoring the situation, though she shared she did not believe there was a clear reason to justify the outlet’s inclusion on the list.

“Certainly, objective news is a long-standing priority for us at Cyprus Times and the entire MC Media group,” she underlined.