Russia blacklists 49 Britons, including prominent journalists

Russia on Tuesday said it was blacklisting 49 UK citizens, including defence officials and prominent reporters and editors from the BBC, The Financial Times and The Guardian.

“The British journalists on the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and the events in Ukraine and Donbass,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Among the 29 journalists who have been banned entry to Russia are Shaun Walker of The Guardian, Gideon Rachman of The Financial Times and political analyst Mark Galeotti.

The list also includes John Witherow, editor of The Times; Chris Evans, editor of The Daily Telegraph; BBC Director-General Tim Davie; Katharine Viner, editor of The Guardian; and Edward Verity, editor of The Daily Mail.

The media names also include Nick Robinson, a BBC Radio 4 anchor, and Sophy Ridge, who fronts Sky News’s weekly politics show.

“The only people on this list of 29 people banned from Russia who were actually travelling there regularly in recent years are me and @MarkGaleotti,” Walker tweeted.

“I wasn’t racing to visit Russia, but it is still a very strange/sad feeling to be put on their sanctions list along with other British colleagues,” he added.

“I lived in Russia for more than a decade and have been at least once every year since 2000.”

The list also contains the names of 20 top officials and figures linked to the defence industry, including Michael Wigston, the head of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and MP Leo Docherty.