Russia is barring Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior British officials from entering the country over their support for Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Britain has supplied Ukraine with new anti-ship missile systems, armoured vehicles and other military equipment. Ukrainian fighters have used anti-tank weapons supplied by Britain to devastating effect against Russia’s armoured vehicles. And Johnson made a surprise visit last week to Kyiv, where he promised to send more military equipment and missiles to Ukraine.

“The Russophobic course of the British authorities, which aims to incite negative attitude towards our country and to curtail bilateral ties in almost all areas, is detrimental to the well-being and interests of the British people,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement announcing the ban on Johnson’s entry.

In addition to the Prime Minister, other barred officials include the British foreign minister and defence secretary.

Last month, Russia said that it had placed President Biden, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and a dozen top US officials on a “stop list” that barred them from entering the country.

Kyiv bodies

The bodies of at least 900 civilians who were killed by Russian forces as they withdrew from the Kyiv region have been discovered, a senior Ukrainian police official said on Friday, a toll which was likely to amplify the already mounting accusations of war crimes being committed.

The accounting was given by Andriy Nebytov, the region’s police chief, at a briefing on Friday, according to local media reports. He said that the largest number of civilian casualties had been observed in Bucha, a city northwest of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. There, he said, more than 350 bodies had been found.

New York Times News Service