Russia’s ambassador has accused Australian journalists of denying his “freedom of speech” and warned that some of the coverage of his infamous press conference last week would have prompted criminal prosecutions in Russia.

Grigory Logvinov issued a statement on Tuesday saying reporters had humiliated themselves by repeating “unfounded accusations and personal attacks” about the Skripal nerve agent attack in Britain, which has been widely attributed to Moscow.

Quoting passages from Australian news stories after his colourful press conference last week addressing the Skripal case, Mr Logvinov said some were insulting towards Russians.

“In the wild Russia, such statements would trigger criminal prosecution as the deliberate incitement of discord between different ethnic groups,” he said.