Russia bans entry of Joe Biden’s siblings along with 200 other US citizens

On Friday, Russia said that it banned 200 US citizens which included the siblings of President Joe Biden. There was also a number of US senators included in the extensive blacklist. 

This move was made in response to Washington’s sanctions over the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine. According to their foreign ministry, the list included US officials, lawmakers, their close relatives, heads of companies, and other experts “involved in the promotion of the Russophobic campaign and support for the regime in Kyiv”. 

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Biden’s sister Valerie and brothers James and Francis were among the list of people that Russia has decided to ban from entering their country. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, as well as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, are also included in that list. 

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Apart from these names, some of the others in Russia’s list of people from the United States include US writer and Russia expert Anne Applebaum, editor-in-chief of Politico, Matthew Kaminski, and Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

So far Russia has already barred over 1,000 US citizens from entering the country, including Hollywood actors Ben Stiller and Sean Penn.

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The decision has come in retaliation for the West slapping Russia with a slew of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions have already crippled Russia’s military-industrial base. Its inventory of cruise and ballistic missiles is critically low.

“Russia is running out of microelectronics critical to its military-industrial complex, and Russian officials are concerned that they don’t have enough foreign components. Two of Russia’s largest domestic microelectronics manufacturers have temporarily halted production due to a lack of critical, foreign technologies,” US Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said recently.