The Russian foreign ministry said Wednesday that it has banned entry to 287 British MPs after the UK blacklisted Russian lawmakers over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
“In response to the decision taken by the British government on March 11 to add 386 State Duma deputies to a sanctions list, in a reciprocal move, personal restrictions are being placed on 287 members of the House of Commons,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said that the MPs are barred from entering the country from now on. The House of Commons has a total of 650 members.
“These persons… took the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London, and contribute to the groundless whipping up of Russophobic hysteria in the UK,” a foreign ministry statement said.
The list of 287 names included current and former ministers as well as several people who no longer serve as members of parliament. One former lawmaker, Dominic Grieve, appears twice.
“All those 287 should regard it as a badge of honour,” Johnson, who was himself banned from Russia on April 16, Boris Johnson told parliament.
The Kremlin has previously singled out Johnson as “the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian” and this week warned Britain of a “proportional response” if it continued to provoke Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.
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