The Russian government has blacklisted Germany's top security and intelligence officials. These German officials will not be able to enter Russia because of this directive.
Moscow took the initiative because of Germany's sanctions against Russia. Berlin has taken action against Russia for allegedly poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and launching a cyber attack on Germany.
Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Moscow had the right to respond, and that Russia would retaliate if Germany continued to impose sanctions in the future.
Russia has been forced to blacklist German citizens due to its destructive activities and has imposed a ban on entry into Russia, the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the German officials were "blacklisted" as part of the country's defense ministry.
Berlin recently imposed sanctions on Russia over allegations that Moscow carried out a cyber attack on the German parliament in 2015.
