Morgan Freeman and the late senator John McCain are among 963 from the US 'permanently banned' from Russia as Kremlin hits back at West sanctions

• Renowned actor Morgan Freeman and the late Sen. John McCain, are among the 963 Americans the Kremlin 'black listed' from Russia
• Freeman has previously spoken out about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, but McCain died in 2018
• Also on the list are major Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and executives at defense contractors
• It also includes American journalists, as well as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and some apparently every day citizens
• Russian Foreign Ministry officials said the people on the list 'incite Russophobia'
• It comes in retaliation to increasing American and Western sanctions as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues 

Renowned actor Morgan Freeman and the late Sen. John McCain are among nearly 1,000 Americans who Russian officials said are 'permanently banned' from entering the country.

The Kremlin added them to the list of 963 Americans who are 'black listed' from Russia on Saturday in retaliation to Western sanctions for the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.  

Russian Foreign Ministry officials said the people on the list 'incite Russophobia.'

'We emphasize that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff,' the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

'Russian counter-sanctions are forced and aimed at forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial 'rules-based world order' on the rest of the world, to change its behavior, recognizing new geopolitical realities.  

'Russia does not seek confrontation and is open to honest, mutually respectful dialogue, separating the American people, who are always respected by us, from the US authorities, who incite Russophobia, and those who serve them. It is these people who are included in the Russian 'black list.''

Freeman, 84, is apparently included in the list for appearing in a 2017 video clip accusing the Russian government of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, saying: 'We have been attacked, we are at war.'

The video was directed by Rob Reiner - who has also been added to the Kremlin's black list - and was produced for an organization named the Committee to Investigate Russia. 

The reason McCain is named on the list, though, remains unclear as he died in 2018 at the age of 81 - which the Russian state-media acknowledged at the time.

But he is only one of three deceased senators to appear on the list, which also includes Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who died in December at the age of 82, and Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah who died last month at the age of 88.

The government had previously banned top government officials including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Saturday marked the first time Russian officials fully released a list of those it considers hostile to the country.

It included some major names in American politics - from both the left and the right.

House Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia; Matt Gaetz, of Florida, and Paul Gosar of Arizona found themselves on the list on Saturday, as well as House Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York; Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts.

In the Senate, Republicans Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; Ted Cruz, of Texas; and Marco Rubio, of Florida, were banned. And on the Democrats' side, Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota; Mark Werner, of Virginia; and Dianne Feinstein, of California; were on the list.

Also included on the list were American journalists like Susan Glasser, of the New Yorker; and Bret Stephens, of the New York Times.

And even some rabbis, an LGBTQ activist, an attorney in Iowa, executives at defense contractors and a history professor at Yale, were on the list according to a Washington Post survey.

More than 80 people on the list are just identified as 'US citizens,' the Post reports.

Separately, the Foreign Ministry said it had added 26 new names to a list of Canadians it has barred from travelling to Russia, including defense chiefs, defense industry executives and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - who was previously banned from the country.

It also included Jocelyn Paul, Eric Kenny and Angus Topshee, who were named last month as the new heads of the Canadian army, air force and navy, and executives of companies including Lockheed Martin Canada and Raytheon Canada. 

Some of those who were banned over the weekend responded on social media.

Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee chair, wondered why she was included on the list, but noted: 'Oh well, I support democratic governments over authoritarian-led dictators.'

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, meanwhile, wrote that it is a 'badge of honor' to be on the list, and Rep. Lori Trahan, a Democrat from Massachusetts, emphasized that Russia including her on the list would not change her mind about the invasion.

'If Vladimir Putin thinks permanently banning me from Russia is going to change my support for Ukraine, I've got bad news for him. It's not,' she wrote. 'The United States stands with Ukraine.'

Journalist Susan Glasser also tweeted: 'I look forward to returning to a free Russia some day after this hell war and those who wrought it are gone,' to which CNN's Bianna Golodryga responded they should plan a trip.

Russian officials first announced they would bar some Americans from entering the country last month - but only named about two dozen prominent people at the time.

The original list only included about 29 names, NBC reports, including White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Holland Hicks, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

They also took aim at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Bank of America CEO Thomas Moynihan, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, as well as ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius and CNN analyst Bianna Golodryga.

Most prominently were President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - as well as some of their family members, like first son Hunter Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

The White House mocked the travel ban at the time by quipping that nobody was planning a trip to Moscow anyway, Sky News reports, and suggesting that Putin's regime targeted the wrong Joe Biden.

But Russian officials seem to have expanded the list in response to increased American and Canadian sanctions on the country.

Earlier this month, G7 leaders agreed to follow the US example and commit to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, which would massively damage Putin's ability to fund his war as energy is a main source of state revenue for Russia.

'We commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil,' the leadership of the seven nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States - said in a statement.

'We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies.'

They also announced they would cut off Russian-state controlled TV stations from American advertisers and prohibit Russians from using US-provided management and accounting consulting services that have enriched oligarchs.

'Taken together, today's actions are a continuation of the systematic and methodical removal of Russia from the global financial and economic system. And the message is there will be no safe haven for the Russian economy if Putin's invasion continues,' a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call.