Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert among 500 Americans banned from going to Russia

Former US president Barack Obama (Jane Barlow/PA)

In response to a new round of US sanctions, Russia has announced that it is banning 500 Americans from entering the country, including former president Barack Obama and comedian Stephen Colbert.

The list released by the Foreign Ministry did not specify complaints against each individual. But the ministry said the offences 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’.”