Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and other senior officials, including journalists and professors, were sanctioned by Russia on Wednesday. Tokyo made the move after joining a list of countries that have sanctioned Moscow for its’military campaign’ in Ukraine. In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said, “the administration of F. Kishida launched an unprecedented anti-Russian campaign (and) allows unacceptable rhetoric against the Russian Federation, including slander and direct threats.”
Russia has also sanctioned Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and its defence minister, Nobuo Kishi. “The sanctions prohibit the individuals targeted from entering Russia indefinitely,” Moscow stated.
Russia describes its attack on Ukraine as a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarising” and “denazifying” the country.
That is rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies as a pretext for an illegal war and aggression.
The following is a list of notable world leaders who have been targeted by Russia so far:
In response to US sanctions over the Kremlin’s’military operations’ in Ukraine, Russia imposed a travel ban on US Vice President Kamala Harris last month.
According to the Russian foreign ministry, the travel ban covered 27 other US officials, including senior Pentagon officials, American business leaders, and journalists, and it would be in effect ‘in perpetuity.’
Russian sanctions have also targeted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Russia had previously banned Facebook and Instagram, which are both part of Zuckerberg’s Meta empire, because they were labelled as “extremist” organisations.
According to AFP, US defence officials on Russia’s list include Pentagon spokesman John Kirby and deputy secretary of defence Kathleen Hicks.
In the same list, Russia imposed a “indefinite” travel ban on 61 Canadian citizens, including several government officials and journalists.
Previously, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several top UK ministers were barred for their “unprecedented hostile actions” in imposing sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. Johnson has frequently expressed his support for Ukraine.
Russian officials issued a’stop list’ that included Indian-origin ministers such as UK chancellor Rishi Sunak, home secretary Priti Patel, and attorney general Suella Braverman, as well as deputy UK prime minister Dominic Raab, foreign secretary Liz Truss, and defence secretary Ben Wallace.
