Russia banned entry to the country for 500 US citizens “in a response to the regularly anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the Joe Biden administration,” the Press Service of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The list of banned “Americans” includes Former US President Barack Obama, many US representatives, two former US ambassadors to Russia and two former US ambassadors to Ukraine, as well as “those in government and law enforcement agencies who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called Storming the Capitol."

"It is high time for Washington to learn that not a single hostile attack against Russia will be left without a strong reaction," said the statement released by Russia’s MFA. "The principle of the inevitability of punishment will be consistently applied, whether we are talking about tougher sanctions pressure or discriminatory steps to hinder the professional activities of our fellow citizens."