Malliotakis among nearly 1,000 Americans banned from entering Russia

The borough’s current and most recent members of Congress joined almost 1,000 Americans over the weekend on a Russian list of our countrymen banned from entering the country.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and her Democratic predecessor, Max Rose, both appeared on the list of 963 Americans permanently barred fro entering the Russian Federation.

This isn’t Malliotakis’ first time on a list of Russian sanctions since the nation’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine.

In April, she was among the 398 members of the House and Senate sanctioned in what was a pre-emptive response to another wave of American sanctions against Russia that President Biden’s administration announced March 24.

On Tuesday, Malliotakis reiterated her response to that Russian announcement saying she was proud to be banned from the Eurasian nation.

“As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will continue to voice my opposition up to Putin’s unlawful, unjustified, and inhumane invasion of Ukraine, and advocate for freedom, democracy, and basic human rights across the globe,” she said. “When tyrants target me for doing what’s right, I will always consider it a badge of honor.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Malliotakis has called for a number of steps to be taken against the belligerent nation, including urging a ban on Russian energy imports, along with tougher economic sanctions and removal of the country from the United Nations’ Human Rights and Security Councils.

Russia, along with the United States, France, Great Britain and China, have had permanent seats on the Security Council since the U.N.’s founding after World War II.

Malliotakis has also worked to get families out of Ukraine as people continue to suffer from the ongoing war, including a Great Kills man and his Ukrainian-national wife who’d been trying to flee the country since before the war started.

Rose, who lost to Malliotakis in the 2020, also expressed pride in the announcement saying he was “happy to be judged by [his] enemies.”

“Guess that romantic getaway to Moscow with my wife is off the table now. Too bad,” the former congressman quipped.

The Russians included most of Congress on the list of people they accused of inciting “Russophobia” along with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and a host of prominent Americans, including Morgan Freeman and Mark Zuckerberg.

Several other former members of Congress also appeared on the list, including Rep. James Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Rep. Edward Roys (R-Calif.).