Moscow bans dozens of US citizens, including journalists, from entering Russia

The nearly 100 people listed “shall be permanently denied” entry into Russia, according to the foreign ministry, which said the sanctions come in “response to the Joe Biden administration’s Russophobic policy with a stated goal of ‘inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow’”.

The ministry added the announcement is also a response to the US “blanket sanctions” on Russian politicians and elite members of society with ties to the government.

The list of US citizens includes members of the US government, pro-democracy activists, academics, and leaders of defense contracting firms and financial institutions that supply weapons to Ukraine to respond to Russia’s war.

Referencing the journalists on the list, the statement said the roster “includes employees of editorial offices and reporters from leading liberal globalist media outlets involved in manufacturing and spreading fake claims about Russia and its armed forces, and engaged in using propaganda to cover Washington’s hybrid war”.

Among the journalists listed is Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker, who became a vocal critic of Moscow as she advocated for the return of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was finally released earlier this month in a prisoner swap.

Another 13 current or former employees at the Journal were on the list, including the outlet’s deputy editor-in-chief, its head of the world news division, its Kyiv bureau chief, its former Moscow bureau chief and a member of its editorial board.

Five New York Times journalists, four Washington Post journalists and a handful of reporters for British papers were also listed.

The sanctions add to the list of more than 2,000 Americans who have already been barred entry to the country, including many US politicians.

A State Department spokesperson condemned the list, in a statement to the New York Times, and expressed concern about Russia’s “escalating attempts to restrict freedom of expression and media freedom in Russia”.

“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress and punish independent journalists and civil society voices, including through the use of censorship laws to punish criticism of Russia’s brutal war” in Ukraine, the spokesperson said.