Political Tensions Escalate Between The U.S. And Russia

Russia Responds In Kind To US Magnitsky List -- BBC

Russia has published a list of 18 US officials barred from the country, in response to a similar US list published by the US Treasury on Friday.

A statement described the US move as a severe blow to relations, and said blackmail could not be ignored.

The US published its list under an act named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail in 2009 in disputed circumstances.

It includes officials who jailed him after he accused them of corruption.

But senior officials from President Vladimir Putin's entourage who had been expected to be included were left off, including Russia's top police official Alexander Bastrykin.

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Update #1: Russia bans American officials in retaliatory move -- Washington Post
Update #2: Russia strikes back with Magnitsky list response -- RT

My Comment: I was not surprised that senior officials in Putin's administration were left off the U.S. list. To do so would have put U.S. - Russian relations into the toilet for the next year or two .... and any hope of arms reductions between the two countries on permanent hold. The Russian reaction with their own list is purely symbolic.