Luke Daniel Harding (born 1968) is a British journalist working as a
foreign correspondent for
The Guardian. He was the correspondent of
The Guardian in Russia from 2007 until, returning from a stay in the UK on 5 February 2011, he was refused re-entry to Russia and deported back the same day.
The Guardian said his expulsion was linked with his critical articles on Russia, while Russia's
foreign ministry said that an extended certificate of foreign correspondence was not obtained in time. After the reversal of the decision on 9 February and the granting of a short-term
visa, Harding chose not to seek a further visa extension. His 2011 book
Mafia State discusses his experience in Russia and the political system under
Vladimir Putin, which he describes as a
mafia state.