The Russian foreign ministry bans entry for 92 U.S. nationals, including journalists from leading publications

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has imposed personal sanctions on 92 U.S. citizens. The list includes journalists from leading international publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.

As the ministry stated, the move is a response to “the Russophobic course pursued by the administration of Joe Biden with the declared goal of ‘inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow’”. According to the ministry, the journalists are involved “in the production and dissemination of ‘fakes’ about Russia and the Russian armed forces, a propaganda ‘cover’ for the ‘hybrid war’ unleashed by Washington.”

The BBC Russian Service notes that several journalists on the list are actively covering the war in Ukraine. Among them are NYT journalist Marc Santora, who reported from Toretsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, and WSJ correspondent Michael Gordon, who co-authored an article about the preparation of Ukraine’s ongoing cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk Region.