Morgan Freeman, Rob Reiner included among nearly 1,000 Americans banned from Russia

Actors and filmmakers Morgan Freeman and Rob Reiner were included on a list of 963 Americans banned from entering Russia released by the country’s foreign ministry on Saturday.

The list also includes President Biden, Vice President Harris and other members of the Biden administration, as well as all the members of the House and an assortment of business executives, think tank leaders, former lawmakers and officials and others.

Reiner’s and Freeman’s entries on the list appear to make reference to their work together in support of The Committee to Investigate Russia, a nonprofit focused on fighting Russian interference in U.S. elections.

Reiner is on the advisory board of the group, which launched in 2017, while Freeman voiced over a video it released.

“We have been attacked,” Freeman said in the video, referring to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. “We are at war.”

Freeman called on then-President Trump to “use every resource available to conduct a thorough investigation to determine exactly how this happened.”

The Committee to Investigate Russia said in 2017 that its aim was to “help Americans recognize and understand the gravity of Russia’s continuing attacks on our democracy.”

In a statement accompanying the release of the list on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry said that the sanctions were a response to those imposed against the country over its invasion of Ukraine.

“In the context of response to the constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and in connection with incoming requests about the personal composition of our national ‘stop list’, the Russian Foreign Ministry publishes a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.