Russia has banned 29 members of the British media from entering the country, including five Guardian journalists, according to its Foreign Ministry.
Moscow said the global action was a response to Western sanctions and the “dissemination of false information about Russia,” as well as “anti-Russian actions by the British government.”
“The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and unilateral information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” the ministry said in a statement.
Twenty individuals who he described as “associated with the defense complex”, including military figures, aerospace figures and deputies, were also banned.
Prohibited journalists include Guardian correspondents Shaun Walker, Luke Harding, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont, as well as Katharine Viner, The Guardian’s editor-in-chief.
British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other media outlets have also been banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent were also listed.
A spokesman for the Russian government said: “This is a disappointing move by the Russian government and a bad day for press freedom. Reliable and accurate journalism is more important now than ever, and despite this decision, we will continue to report forcefully on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine “.
Russia has launched unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent media since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as well as on foreign social media. The legislation was introduced shortly after the war began to criminalize media outlets that spread “false information” about the Russian army.
As a result, several media groups stopped operating in Russia, and draconian law threatened to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years. Russia has also blocked access to various websites of foreign news organizations, such as the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Russia warned US news organizations this month that it risks being withdrawn from its accreditation if it does not improve the treatment of Russian journalists in the United States.
“Work to expand Russia’s ‘stop list’ will continue,” the statement said.
Prohibited in the second half of the list were British Defense Secretary of State Jeremy Quin and Chief Marshal Mike Wigston.
The full list is: Shaun Walker, Guardian correspondent; With Coughlin, columnist for the Daily Telegraph; Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent for Sky News; James Rothwell, Daily Telegraph reporter; John Witherow, editor-in-chief of the Times; Chris Evans, editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph; Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of The Guardian; Richard Sharp, President of the BBC Governing Council; Timothy Davie, Director General of the BBC; Clive Myrie, BBC correspondent and news presenter; Orla Guerin, BBC correspondent; Nick Robinson, BBC presenter; Paul Adams, BBC correspondent; Nick Beake, BBC correspondent; Alexander Thomson, Channel 4 News correspondent and presenter; Dan Rivers, ITV correspondent; Peter Beaumont, Guardian correspondent; Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian correspondent; Sophy Ridge, Sky News journalist and presenter; Catherine Newman, journalist and presenter of Channel 4 News; Edward Verity, editor-in-chief, Daily Mail; Christian Broughton, editor-in-chief, The Independent; Larisa Brown, military news editor, The Times; Mark Galeotti, political scientist; Joseph Barnes, Daily Telegraph correspondent; Gideon Rachman, Financial Times correspondent; Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent; Dominic Lawson, columnist for the Sunday Times and Daily Mail; Lawrence Freedman, Sunday Times columnist.
Jeremy Quin, Minister of Defense Procurement; Leo Docherty, Undersecretary of Defense; Benjamin Key, commander of the Royal Navy, chief of staff of the Royal Navy; Mike Wigston, commander of the RAF; Robert Magowan, Deputy Chief, Strategic Command of the United Kingdom; Charles Stickland, Commander, Joint Operations, United Kingdom Armed Forces; Roger Martyn Carr, Chairman of the Board of BAE Systems; Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems; David Armstrong, CEO of BAE Systems; Glynn Phillips, CEO of BAE Systems; Clifford Robson, CEO of BAE Systems; Alexander Cresswell, Chairman and CEO of Thales UK; Christopher Shaw, Chief Operating Officer of Thales UK; Paul Gosling, Vice President of Thales UK; Ewen McCrorie, Vice President of Thales UK; Suzanne Stratton, Vice President of Thales UK; Lynne Watson, Vice President of Thales UK; Gregory Campbell, deputy; Gavin Robinson, deputy; Samuel Wilson, deputy.