Russia's media regulator has said it would carry out checks to determine whether the BBC World news channel and BBC internet sites were in compliance with Russian law.
It said in a statement it was acting in response to a decision by British media regulator Ofcom, which yesterday said that Russian broadcaster RT had broken impartiality rules in some of its news and current affairs programmes.
The BBC said it worked in full compliance with Russia's laws and regulations to deliver independent news.
"As everywhere else in the world, the BBC works in Russia in full compliance with the country's laws and regulations to deliver independent news and information to its audiences," said a spokeswoman..
Yesterday, Ofcom said the RT news channel, formerly Russia Today, failed to be impartial in seven news and current affairs programmes over a six-week period up to May.
The programmes were mostly about the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in March or the conflict in Syria.
Ofcom said it was "minded to consider imposing a statutory sanction" on RT.
It said RT failed to give due weight to a wide range of voices on a matter of major political controversy.
Possible penalties could include the broadcaster being fined or even having its licence revoked.
RT's licensee TV-Novosti alleged that Ofcom was under intense pressure from the UK government, which the watchdog has strongly denied.
Ofcom began investigations into RT earlier this year.
The channel is produced in Russia, "providing a Russian perspective on UK and global news and current affairs related programming", it says.
British Prime Minister Theresa May recently warned that politicians appearing on RT risk being used as "propaganda tools".
An Ofcom spokeswoman said the breaches "represent a serious failure of compliance with our broadcasting rules".
