Russia Imposed a Visa Ban on Some U.s. Officials, Responding to a Measure of The U.s

Russia banned the entry into its territory for many U.S. officials, in response to visa restrictions imposed by Washington for suspected Russian officials about the death in prison of lawyer Sergei Magniţki, Kommersant daily reports Wednesday.

According to sources quoted by the newspaper, the list drawn up by Moscow is ready and has “dozens of Americans,” whose identity will not be disclosed.

It is American citizens who, according to Moscow violated the human rights of Russian citizens, especially for alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout arrested in Thailand and held in the United States, says Kommersant.

U.S. State Department announced in late July that adopted visa ban against a list of Russian citizens suspected of being involved in the death of Sergei Magniţki in prison in 2009.

The Kremlin announced that Russia is preparing retaliatory measures.

Russian list could include representatives of U.S. Drug Agency (DEA) involved in the arrest of Viktor Bout and his Iaroşenko Konstantin, a Russian pilot arrested in Liberia, during a drug trafficking case, and held in the United States.

“The list will not be published. Americans have not published it on their own, neither do we publish our own,” said a source quoted by Kommersant Russian.

Riabkov Sergey, Russian Foreign Minister adjnct, refused to confirm that the list is ready, but stressed that “every American guilty of violation of a Russian citizen” may appear on it, porivit daily Kommersant.

Another source added that the list includes only officials involved in cases of Bout and Iaroşenko. ”There is a package of files relating to violation of Russian citizens.”

Sergei Magniţki, a lawyer in a western investment fund, died after serving nearly a year in a detention center in Moscow in November 2009. He was arrested for tax evasion in a few days after he denounced a financial scheme of 5.4 billion rubles (130 million), planned by the police and tax officials from the Russian investment fund against Western Hermitage and the Russian state.