US Vice President Kamala Harris and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among the 29 new Americans added to Russia’s list of people barred from entering Russia indefinitely on Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced.
“In response to the ever-expanding anti-Russian sanctions… 29 Americans are added to the no entry list, [and] Top leaders, businessmen, experts and journalists who form the Russophobic agenda, as well as the spouses of a number of high-ranking officials (will be) denied entry to the Russian Federation on an indefinite basis.”
Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and ABC anchor George Stephanopolous were also among the sanctioned Americans. The list is entirely comprised of US government officials, US business leaders, and journalists/members of the media.
The Kremlin has faced a flurry of sanctions since its initial invasion of Ukraine, such as Russian banks being disconnected from the SWIFT banking system and numerous bans on Russian energy imports.
Russia blocked access to Zuckerberg’s Facebook in early March in response to increased oversight of Russia-based posts. Meta is not the only tech company subject to Russia’s ire, as LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky was named as well. LinkedIn has been banned in Russia since 2016, per the BBC.
Russia has responded to international sanctions against them by levying sanctions of its own against opponents of the Russian government. On March 31st, Russia moved to ban EU commissioners, MEPs and EU journalists from entering the country.
Earlier in March, Russia's foreign ministry announced it has imposed sanctions on US President Joe Biden and 12 other Americans – including former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who has previous ties to Ukrainian business interests.