No SNP MPs have been sanctioned by Vladimir Putin in a mass Russian ban on politicians in the House of Commons.
The Kremlin is sanctioning a total of 287 British MPs in a retaliatory move against the UK’s action over the Ukrainian invasion, according to Russian media.
Embarrassingly, the hit list published on Russia’s Foreign Ministry website is years out of date.
It includes several Tory MPs who gave up or lost their seats in 2019 after having the whip withdrawn for rebelling over Brexit.
It also excludes some outspoken critics of Putin including Labour’s Chris Bryant MP and the SNP’s defence spokesman Stewart McDonald.
But Boris Johnson said those MPs on the list should see their inclusion as a “badge of honour”.
A dozen senior ministers were sanctioned by Russia earlier this month, but the Kremlin inexplicably left out around 350 other British MPs, the vast majority of whom have vocally condemned Putin’s invasion.
Those named are now banned from travelling to Russia and any assets they hold in the country are likely to be frozen.
In a statement, Putin’s officials accused the MPs of fuelling “unwarranted Russophobic hysteria”.
They singled out the UK’s decision to impose similar restrictions on 386 members of Russia’s lower house of parliament on March 11.
Britain’s asset freezes will cause far great discomfort to Russia’s MPs due to the UK’s status as an attractive destination for foreign investments.
A statement reported by state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti said: “These persons, who are now banned from entering the Russian Federation, took the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London, contribute to the groundless whipping up of Russophobic hysteria in the UK.”
The move comes after Putin’s government accused the UK of ‘provoking’ Ukraine into attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Defence Ministry promised an ‘immediate’ and ‘proportional’ response.
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