Putin bans 131 Aussies for ‘anti-Russian agenda’
Canberra has provided more than $1.3B in aid to Kyiv.
Russia on Tuesday banned 131 Australians from entering the country in what its foreign ministry said was retaliation for Canberra’s “anti-Russian agenda.”
Russia’s foreign ministry said the banned individuals included “representatives of the military-industrial complex, journalists and public figures who are forming an anti-Russian agenda in this country.”
The list includes senior diplomats, officials associated with the Quad and AUKUS diplomatic and military partnerships, television journalists, army officials and the CEOs of several defense firms.
More individuals would be banned as long as “Canberra does not intend to abandon its anti-Russian course and continues to introduce new sanctions,” Russia’s foreign ministry warned. Moscow already banned 235 Australian state-level politicians in April.
Australia imposed sanctions on Moscow after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Canberra has also provided more than $1.3 billion in aid to Kyiv and donated 49 Abrams tanks earlier this month.
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