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Russia on Thursday slapped travel bans on US Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and dozens of prominent Americans and Canadians in retaliation for sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry said the travel restrictions on 29 Americans and 61 Canadians — which also includes defence officials, business leaders and journalists from both countries — would remain in effect indefinitely.
The US defence officials include Pentagon spokesman John Kirby and Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks.
“These individuals are denied entry into the Russian Federation indefinitely,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The list also affects news media, from ABC News television presenter George Stephanopoulos to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, CNN reporter Bianna Golodryga and the Russia-focused Meduza news site's editor Kevin Rothrock.
In response to the news, Mr Rothrock tweeted, “a funny thing happened to me on the way to work today".
The list of Canadians is headed by Cameron Ahmad, who serves as director of communications to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Canadian Special Operations Forces Commander Steve Boivin.
The foreign ministry said the list was comprised of people responsible for the two countries' “Russophobic” policies.
Russia earlier sanctioned President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, among several others in US leadership and politics.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted about being sanctioned at the time, “I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award".
Russia has also banned Facebook and Instagram, which form part of Mr Zuckerberg's Meta empire, calling them “extremist” organisations.
AFP contributed to this report
