Russia announced on Monday that 39 more prominent Brits have been added to its list of people banned from entering the country, including opposition Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster, as well as Piers Morgan, a TV presenter and journalist, were also banned from Russia.

Russia said its actions were in response to UK sanctions against Russians, which it condemned.

It also banned other senior figures in Britain’s political and media establishments, saying that they “contribute to London’s hostile course aimed at the demonisation of our country and its international isolation.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the “pernicious actions of the UK in planting Russophobia, spreading false information about our country and supporting the Kyiv neo-Nazi regime will receive an adequate and decisive response from the Russian side.”

- The choice in favor of confrontation is a conscious decision of the British political establishment, which bears all responsibility for the consequences - it added.

Britain has led the way in tough sanctions against Russia since it launched war on Ukraine in February, and has also been one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters.​​​​​​​