Russia bans 963 Americans, including Biden, Harris, Morgan Freeman but not Trump & More News Here

“In the context of response to the constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and in connection with incoming requests about the personal composition of our national ‘stop list,’ the Russian Foreign Ministry publishes a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation,” the Foreign Ministry stated in a information launch.

Some of these named on Saturday’s listing, including Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have been sanctioned in March and barred from getting into Russia.

The listing seems to incorporate main officers from the Biden administration, similar to Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, can also be named, as is former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

The White House did not instantly reply to a request for remark early Saturday.

One outstanding identify lacking from the listing: former president Donald Trump. In reality, the one outstanding Trump administration official included within the ban is former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s listing of 963 Americans contains many members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is not on the listing. Also not listed is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who delayed a Senate vote on assist for Ukraine final week when he was the one senator to object. The Senate handed the measure this week, and Biden signed the $40 billion package deal of recent navy and humanitarian help to Ukraine into regulation on Saturday whereas visiting Seoul.

The new assist package deal indicators that the United States and its allies are getting ready for an extended battle within the nation. The package deal contains $20 billion in further navy assist that may finance the switch of superior weapons methods. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden, including that the protection help is “needed more than ever.”

The listing of banned Americans was launched at a time when Russia is constant intense shelling of Severodonetsk, the easternmost metropolis underneath Ukraine’s management, which seems to be set to be the conflict’s subsequent main battlefield. Fighting is underway on the town’s outskirts, and “the Russians are destroying Severodonetsk, like Mariupol,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai stated early Saturday. He stated six civilians have been killed on Friday throughout Russian bombardments in and across the metropolis.

After the United States and different nations imposed historic sanctions on Russia due to the invasion, Americans stay stalwart of their assist for Ukraine, with a big, bipartisan majority favoring elevated sanctions towards Russia and most additionally backing navy and humanitarian assist for Ukrainians, in line with a Washington Post-ABC News ballot earlier this month. In all, 73 % say the United States is doing both the correct quantity or too little to assist Ukraine.

Big majority of Americans again sanctions on Russia, assist to Ukraine, ballot finds

Russia introduced its personal sanctions towards the United States in March, barring Biden and different administration officers from the nation.

On Saturday, House Republicans similar to Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), in addition to House Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), discovered themselves barred from Russia. In the Senate, Republicans Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) are on the listing, as are Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Mark R. Warner (Va.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.).

Russia additionally named former senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) as among the many present or ex-lawmakers barred from getting into the nation, although they’re all lifeless. McCain died in 2018 at 81. Reid died in December at age 82, whereas Hatch died final month at 88.

The assortment of these banned from Russia contains individuals from all walks of life, in line with a evaluate of the listing by The Washington Post. Eighty-six individuals named on Russia’s “black list” have been recognized solely as “U.S. citizens.” Those barred embrace rabbis, an LBGTQ activist, an lawyer in Iowa, executives at protection contractors and a historical past professor at Yale University.

Russia targeted on the U.S. tech trade in naming Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft President Brad Smith to the listing. American journalists barred by Russia embrace George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Susan Glasser of the New Yorker, Bret Stephens of the New York Times and Bianna Golodryga of CNN. No journalists or hosts from Fox News have been banned by Russia on Saturday, in line with the listing.

One of the shock entries on the listing was Freeman, 84, an Academy Award-winning actor. The Russian Foreign Ministry famous in his entry that Freeman made the “stop list” as a result of in 2017 he “recorded a video message accusing Russia of conspiring against the United States and calling for a fight against our country.” Freeman spoke out towards Russia in a video from a gaggle that sought to lift consciousness about Russian interference within the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“We have been attacked,” Freeman stated on the time. “We are at war.”

Russia claimed Saturday that the listing was revealed in response to “the hostile actions taken by Washington” in the course of the invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia does not seek confrontation and is open to honest, mutually respectful dialogue, separating the American people, who are always respected by us, from the U.S. authorities, who incite Russophobia, and those who serve them,” the Foreign Ministry wrote. “It is these people who are included in the Russian ‘black list.’ ”