Russia barred 500 Americans from entering its territory on Friday, including former President Barack Obamaas a “response” to Washington-imposed sanctions against hundreds of Kremlin-linked companies and individuals triggered by the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“In response to the anti-Russian sanctions, regularly imposed by the Biden administration, entry to the Russian Federation is closed to 500 Americans,” announced the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to a ministry statement, this new round of sanctions includes “significant figures” of the United States, such as former President Obama, as well as “leaders of various levels of the executive branch”.

Those sanctioned include Obama (2009-2017), current leaders of various levels of the Executive Branch, the former executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board, Nina Jankowicz, newly elected senators and congressmen, experts and staff of analytical centers, and heads of companies supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The US Treasury Department announced new Russia-related sanctions on Friday against 22 individuals and 104 entities in more than 20 countries.

The new package of massive sanctions related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine includes, in particular, Russian ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova, as well as more than 30 companies that import, ship or manufacture electronic, semiconductor and microelectronic components from or to Russia.

The Kremlin said the measure was specifically targeted at officials tasked with “combating Russian disinformation”, senators, congressmen and “employees of analytical centers involved in spreading Russophobic posturing and hoaxes”.

“It’s time for Washington to learn this not a single hostile attack against Russia will go ahead without a strong reaction. The principle of inevitability of punishment will be applied consistently, whether it is through tougher sanctions or discriminatory measures against the professional activities of our citizens,” Russia warned in a statement quoted by Europa Press and AFP news agencies .

With this new round of sanctions, Moscow has already placed a total of 1,244 US citizens on its “blacklist” in response to successive Washington-imposed sanctions unleashed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, Sputnik reported. Press Agency.

On the other hand, Russian diplomats have also announced that they are rejecting the request of the American embassy in Moscow to pay a consular visit to Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in the city of Yekaterinburg after being accused of espionage.

The Kremlin has indicated that this decision was taken in response to Washington’s refusal to grant visas to Russian journalists who were supposed to cover the trip of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the United States to attend the meeting of the United Nations Security Council, chaired in April from Russia.

The US Treasury Department stressed that these sanctions target people in President Vladimir Putin’s close circle, including Russian Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova and other top regional officials.

The measure marks the latest round of sanctions imposed by the United States in response to the invasion of Ukraine and seeks to “weaken Russia’s industrial complex”.

These new measures come shortly after the start of the G7 summit in Japan, where the group has arranged, in fact, to increase the sanctions against Moscow.