About 500 Americans are banned from entering Russia, including current and former US government officials, educators and celebrities.
In a statement on Fridaythe Russian Foreign Ministry said the ban was in response to sanctions by the Biden administration that it said “are designed to inflict maximum harm” on Russian officials and citizens.
Topping the list of “significant” political figures barred from Russian territory are former President Barack Obama, three US senators, many US representatives, two former US ambassadors to Russia and two former US ambassadors in Ukraine The list also included companies that manufactured weapons supplied to Ukraine in its war with Russia and people who were “directly involved in the persecution of dissidents following the so-called Assault of the Capitol.”
Several American television anchors and commentators also made the list, including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Rachel Maddow, Erin Burnett and Joe Scarborough.
“It is time for Washington to know that not a single hostile attack against Russia will go without a strong reaction,” the statement said. “The principle of the inevitability of punishment will be applied consistently, whether we are talking about tougher sanctioning pressures or discriminatory measures to hinder the professional activity of our fellow citizens.”
SEE MORE: USA: Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine
Tensions between Russia and the US have continued to rise amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.
In February, the The US State Department warned against it any Americans traveling to Russia and said any American citizens still there should leave immediately.
An American Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, is currently being held in Russia’s notorious Lefortovo prison on espionage charges, the first such arrest since 1986.
Since the arrest in March, President Joe Biden and other US officials have publicly pushed for the release of Gershkovich and the release of Paul Whelan, who is also in Russian prison.
But among Friday’s list of banned Americans, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed it would deny the US Embassy in Moscow’s request for a consular visit to Gershkovich. This is in response to the US refusing to issue visas to Russian journalists traveling with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russia released the list as world leaders are about to conclude the G7 summit sunday
The leaders said they would add economic sanctions on Russia to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine.” They also offered more support to Ukraine, including a plan to provide the country F-16 fighter jets.
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