Moscow bans 500 Americans, including Obama, from entering Russia

Russia has banned 500 Americans, including former US President Barack Obama, from entering the country in retaliation for the latest round of sanctions imposed by the US.

“In response to the anti-Russian sanctions regularly imposed by the Biden administration... entry into the Russian Federation is closed for 500 Americans,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

It added that Obama was among those on the list, which also included television hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers, as well as CNN anchor Erin Burnett and MSNBC presenters Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough.

Earlier in the day, the US blacklisted hundreds more companies and individuals that import ship, or manufacture electronics components, semiconductors, and microelectronics to Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The sanctions also include the entities related to the recent agreement between Iran and Russia to build a railway section of the North-South Corridor.

Tehran has also slammed Washington’s sanctions, saying that the Rasht-Astara railway project is part of its neighbor-oriented strategy, which is based on cooperation for security, development, and common prosperity.

In its Friday statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Washington “should have learned a long time ago that not a single hostile step against Russia will be left unanswered.”

It further said that Moscow blacklisted senators, congressmen and members of think tanks “involved in the spread of Russophobic attitudes and fakes” and the heads of companies that “supply weapons to Ukraine.”

SS