RUSSIA yesterday expanded the list of United States citizens banned from entering the country to include Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, in retaliation for similar measures against Russians by Washington, following the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine.

Russia, by the end of last month, released a list of 963 people banned from the country, including US president Joe Biden, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and actor Morgan Freeman.

The new list includes an additional 61 names, mostly government officials, but also bosses of major companies, mainly in the defence and energy sectors.

In addition to Yellen, Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and OneWeb’s CEO Neil Masterson have also been sanctioned.

The CEOs of Universal Pictures and Fitch are also included in the list.

“Sixty-one American citizens, including leaders of large companies in the military-industrial complex, media platforms and rating agencies, aircraft and shipbuilding companies, are included,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

Since the offensive in Ukraine started, the Kremlin has denied entry to hundreds of Western figures to Russia. – AFP, June 7, 2022.