World News | Obama, Colbert and 500 Americans Banned from Traveling to Russia

MOSCOW, May 19 (AP) In response to a new round of U.S. sanctions, Russia on Friday announced a ban on the entry of 500 Americans, including former President Barack Obama and comedian Stephen Colbert.

The list released by the foreign ministry did not specify the complaints against each individual. But the ministry said the crimes included spreading Russophobia, supplying weapons to Ukraine, and “officials directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called congressional storm.”

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The ban includes 45 members of the US House of Representatives, Senators JD Vance, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt, and former ambassadors to Russia John Tefft and Jon Huntsman.

The ministry said it also denied a request by the United States for consular access to Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in late March and charged with espionage. The ministry said it was in response to the U.S. refusal to grant visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the United Nations last month.

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The latest sanctions against Russia include tighter restrictions on fighters and companies already sanctioned. Financial penalties have largely focused on sanctions evaders linked to Kremlin technology purchases. (Associated Press)

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