Top EU officials banned from entering Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that "the top leadership" of the European Union (EU) has been barred from entering the country in response to Brussels' massive sanctions imposed in the wake of Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The restrictions apply to a number of European commissioners, heads of EU military structures, and the vast majority of lawmakers of the European Parliament promoting anti-Russian policies, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

The "blacklist" also includes representatives of the governments and Parliaments of some EU member states, public figures and media workers.

The Ministry said it had informed the EU delegation in Moscow of the entry ban, but it did not publish names of the targeted.

"We reaffirm that any hostile actions on the part of the EU and its member states will continue to inevitably receive a harsh response," the statement said.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that started on February 24, the EU massively expanded sanctions against Moscow.

It added a significant number of persons and entities to the sanctions list, and adopted unprecedented measures with the aim of significantly weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war.