Moscow said the sweeping action was a response to Western sanctions and “spreading false information about Russia” as well as “British government anti-Russian actions”. “The British journalists on the list are involved in deliberately spreading false and one-sided information about Russia and the events in Ukraine and Donbass,” the ministry said in a statement. Twenty people he described as “about the defense complex”, including military, senior aerospace officials and lawmakers, were also banned. Among the journalists banned were Guardian correspondents Shaun Walker, Luke Harding, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont, as well as Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief. British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other news outlets have also been banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent were also mentioned. A Guardian spokesman said: “This is a disappointing move by the Russian government and a bad day for the freedom of the press. “Reliable, accurate journalism is more important now than ever, and despite this decision, we will continue to report strongly on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.” Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as well as on foreign social media. Legislation was enacted shortly after the start of the war to criminalize media outlets that spread “false information” about the Russian military. As a result, some media outlets have ceased operations in Russia, with the draconian law actually threatening to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years. Russia has also blocked access to the websites of many foreign news organizations, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle. Russia has warned US news agencies this month that they risk losing their accreditation unless the treatment of Russian journalists in the United States improves. “Work on expanding Russia’s” stop list “will continue,” the statement said. Among those banned in the second part of the list were United Kingdom Secretary of Defense Jeremy Quinn and Air Force Chief of Staff Mike Wigston. The full list is: Shaun Walker, Guardian correspondent. Con Coughlin, columnist for the Daily Telegraph. Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, Sky News. James Rothwell, Daily Telegraph reporter John Witherow, editor-in-chief of the Times. Chris Evans, editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph. Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian. Richard Sharp, Chairman of the BBC Board. Timothy Davie, BBC Director-General. Clive Myrie, BBC correspondent and news anchor. Orla Guerin, BBC correspondent. Nick Robinson, BBC presenter. Paul Adams, BBC correspondent. Nick Beake, BBC correspondent. Alexander Thomson, Channel 4 News correspondent and presenter. Dan Rivers, ITV correspondent. Peter Beaumont, Guardian correspondent. Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian correspondent. Sophy Ridge, Sky News journalist and presenter. Catherine Newman, journalist and presenter for Channel 4 News. Edward Verity, editor, Daily Mail. Christian Broughton, editor-in-chief of the Independent. Larisa Brown, Times military news editor. Mark Galeotti, political scientist, Joseph Barnes, correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. Gideon Rachman, Financial Times correspondent. Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent. Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times and Daily Mail columnist. Lawrence Freedman, Sunday Times columnist. Jeremy Quinn, Secretary of Defense; Leo Docherty, Undersecretary of Defense; Benjamin Key, Commander of the Royal Navy, Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy. Mike Wigston, RAF Commander. Robert Magowan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, UK Strategic Administration. Charles Stickland, Commander, Joint Undertakings, UK Armed Forces. Roger Martyn Carr, Chairman of the Board of BAE Systems. Charles Woodburn, Executive Director of BAE Systems. David Armstrong, CEO of BAE Systems. Glynn Phillips, CEO of BAE Systems. Clifford Robson, CEO of BAE Systems. Alexander Cresswell, Chairman and CEO of Thales UK. Christopher Shaw, Chief Business Officer of Thales UK. Paul Gosling, Vice President, Thales UK. Ewen McCrorie, Vice President, Thales UK; Suzanne Stratton, Vice President, Thales UK. Lynne Watson, Vice President, Thales UK. Gregory Campbell, Member of Parliament; Gavin Robinson, MP? Samuel Wilson, Member of Parliament.
