Barred from Russia: These Ohioans are on Kremlin’s list
Senators among those hit by sanctions, ban
Ohio U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, plus former Gov. John Kasich are among more than 900 people hit with sanctions, including a travel ban, by the Russian government.
Other Ohioans on the Kremlin’s blacklist include GOP Congressman Jim Jordan, of Urbana, and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, of Howland in the Youngstown area, a U.S. Senate candidate this year.
Also included: Cleveland’s Andy Futey, a top aide for the late Gov. George V. Voinovich in the 1990s who now is president of the American Committee of the Ukrainian Congress and vice president of the World Ukrainian Congress.
Futey told the Kyiv Post he is “not at all upset about being sanctioned” noting: “I had no plans to be vacationing in
Siberia anytime soon!”
The Buckeye State’s entire congressional delegation now cannot legally travel to Russia, either.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz of Cincinnati also was banned.
In March, she rejected a “homemade” lawsuit from a self-proclaimed “chief constituent diplomat in America and Russia” against President Joe Biden over the Ukraine War.
The list released last weekend included several deceased political leaders, including the late GOP Sens. John Mccain, of Arizona, and Orrin Hatch, of Utah, plus Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada.
Ohioans wore the snub as a badge of honor.
“I guess they’re a little sensitive about people calling out Putin’s murderous regime and unjust war in #Ukraine,” tweeted Kasich, the Republican former governor who is now a CNN commentator.
Ryan, seeking the seat now held by Portman, said: “As it turns out, Vladimir Putin doesn’t like it when you stand up for freedom and make him pay for murdering innocent people. Can’t say I’m surprised. Bullies are predictable.”
The wide-ranging ban from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which updated a shorter list released in March, stretched from Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to top Hollywood figures such as Morgan Freeman and Rob Reiner. drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland