Russia blocks entry to ex-defense minister and journalists from New Zealand

RUSSIA has barred 31 New Zealand citizens from entering the country, including former Defense Minister Ron Stanley Mark, Ukraine's Honorary Consul in Auckland Oleksandr Kirichuk, and Maori Development Minister William Gunnin Ormsby.

The list is published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. it also included employees of the New Zealand media: Dominion Post, New Zealand Media and Entertainment, Stuff, Radio New Zealand, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), New Zealand Herald and others.

“In response to new sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities <...> entry into our country on an indefinite basis is closed for an additional 31 New Zealanders from among government officials, journalists and public figures involved in promoting the anti-Russian agenda and supporting the regime in Kiev ”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In December last year, New Zealand imposed sanctions against representatives of the Russian media, including the general DIRECTOR of Channel One, Konstantin Ernst, as well as against the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev. The news agency InfoRos, the English-language news outlet SouthFront, and the electronic media outlet Strategic Culture Foundation were sanctioned.