Russia bans 500 US citizens from entering its territory, including Barack Obama

Return of lift from Moscow. Russia announced on Friday, May 19, that it was prohibiting the entry into its territory of 500 Americans, including former President Barack Obama, in retaliation for the sanctions imposed against it by Washington. This announcement from Russia comes as the United States placed Friday “more than 300” people, businesses, ships and planes, across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, on their blacklist, according to the Treasury and the State Department.

“Washington should have known long ago that no hostile action toward Russia will go unanswered,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russia has announced that it is blacklisting members of the United States Congress, research institutes “involved in spreading Russophobic attitudes and false information”as well as company managers who “supply arms to Ukraine”.

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel…

Among the personalities who will now be banned from entering Russian territory are also presenters or hosts from several American television channels: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers, or even Erin Burnett (CNN), Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough (MSNBC).

The environmental defense association Greenpeace has also been described as an organization “undesirable” on Russian territory, a decision “absurd” according to the NGO. Russia said in the same statement that it was again banning a consular visit to American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in March after Washington refused to issue visas to some Russian journalists in April. Since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine, the Russian authorities have greatly accelerated the repression of critical voices.