Obama, Colbert among 500 Americans banned from going to Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — In response to a new round of U.S. sanctions, Russia has announced that has banned 500 Americans from entering the country, including former President Barack Obama and comedian Stephen Colbert. The list released Friday by the Foreign Ministry doesn’t specify complaints against each individual. But the ministry says the offenses included spreading Russophobia, supplying Ukraine with arms, and officials “who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called ‘storm of the Capitol.’” The ban includes 45 members of the U.S. House, Sens. J.D. Vance, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt, and two former ambassadors to Russia. The ministry says it denied a U.S. request for consular access to jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.