By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Russia has banned 92 additional American citizens for what Moscow has described as “Russophobic course pursued by the Biden administration with the declared goal of ‘inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement, the country is “permanently closed” to the 92 people on the list, which includes journalists from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post, American government officials from the Justice Department, Treasury Department and Space Force.
Several academics are also banned, including professors from Harvard University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia.
President Joe Biden is a known backer on Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russian since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Top journalists named in the list include Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, whose reporter Evan Gershkovich spent 15 months in Russian detention before being freed in June as part of a major prisoner swap. Nathan Hodge, a senior editor at CNN, is also on the list as a former Moscow bureau chief for the WSJ.
“The ‘stop list’ also includes editorial staff and reporters of leading liberal-globalist publications involved in the production and dissemination of ‘fakes’ about Russia and the Russian armed forces, and the propaganda ‘cover’ for the ‘hybrid war’ unleashed by Washington,” the ministry said in reference to the American journalists, warning that the ban list will be expanded in the future.
Moscow also criticized the United States’ broad sanctions against Russian politicians, businessmen, Russian media figures and others, calling it a “mad sanctions frenzy” by American authorities.
Heritage Times HT reports that this is not the first time Russia has issued a list of Americans barred from entering the country.
Last year, Moscow banned “500 Americans” including former US President Barack Obama, late night television host Stephen Colbert and several US senators.
In response to Russia’s ban, a WSJ spokesperson said, “The Putin regime is farcically consistent in its all-out assault on free press and truth. This laughable list of targets is no exception.”
The Journal said they no longer have anyone reporting from inside Russia.
