Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has slammed The New York Times’ job posting for a Russia correspondent, criticizing it for “political bias” and “Russophobia.”
In its description for the job posted early last week, The New York Times lists its requirements for an ideal candidate along with a description of the job’s location, “Vladimir Putin’s Russia.”
“It sends out hit squads armed with nerve agents against its enemies, most recently the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny,” the description reads. “It has its cyber agents sow chaos and disharmony in the West to tarnish its democratic systems, while promoting its faux version of democracy. It has deployed private military contractors around the globe to secretly spread its influence. At home, its hospitals are filling up fast with Covid patients as its president hides out in his villa.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the job description in a Facebook post on Sunday, accusing the newspaper of “Russophobia” and expressing concern for The New York Times’ Russia-based staff.
“Does the newspaper even have the right to risk the life of a correspondent by sending them to work in such inhuman conditions?” Zakharova wrote.
She then implied that Russian authorities responsible for issuing visas and accreditations to foreign journalists could prohibit their entry to Russia altogether as a way to ensure their safety.
“American journalists’ lives also matter, even if they work for The New York Times,” the spokeswoman said.
Zakharova advised The New York Times to limit its operations to the U.S., saying its journalists don’t need to be physically present in Russia to “spread lies.”
Referencing Nietzsche, she said that “the American press has been fighting the ‘monster’ for so long that it did not notice that it became the monster itself.”
Zakharova has made a number of controversial social media statements in the past. In September, President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were forced to apologize to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic after Zakharova made a Facebook post appearing to mock the Russia-allied nation’s leader.