Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and other Cabinet ministers banned from entering Russia
Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace, Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and other senior ministers have been banned from entering Russia, the country's Foreign Ministry said.
The move follows the "unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, in particular, the imposition of sanctions against top officials of the Russian Federation," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is also among 13 who have been barred from entering the country.
Other senior ministers include Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Kwasi Kwarteng, Nadine Dorries, James Heappey, Attorney General Suella Braverman and former prime minister Theresa May.
Whitehall sources suggested that the prime minister, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are likely to see this as a sign of the success of their leadership in taking tough action against Russia.
They pointed out that UK sanctions against Putin and Lavrov meant neither of them would be able to travel to the UK.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said: "This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy."
It said in the near future, Russia will expand the "stop list" of British politicians and parliamentarians who "contribute to whipping up anti-Russian hysteria, pushing the “collective West” to use the language of threats in dialogue with Moscow, and shamelessly inciting the Kiev neo-Nazi regime."
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The statement added: "In essence, the British leadership is deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine, pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of NATO.
"The instigation of London is also unacceptable, which is strongly pushing not only its Western allies, but also other countries to introduce large-scale anti-Russian sanctions, which, however, are senseless and counterproductive.
"The Russophobic course of the British authorities, whose main task is to stir up a negative attitude towards our country, curtail bilateral ties in almost all areas, is detrimental to the well-being and interests of the inhabitants of Britain itself.
"Any sanctions attacks will inevitably hit their initiators and receive a decisive rebuff."
The move from the Kremlin comes after the UK sanctioned some of Russia's banks, businesses, oligarchs, and will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.