Moscow - (AFP) - Russia announced that it has imposed an entry ban on 39 Australian citizens working in the security and defense services, in a measure it put in place in response to the sanctions imposed by Canberra on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "in response to the decision of officials in Canberra to impose sanctions (...), Russia has added 39 additional people to the list" of persons prohibited from entering its territory.

She explained that among them are "representatives of law enforcement authorities, border guards, and contractors in the defense sector."

The ministry published a list of the names of those banned from entering its territory.

The list included, in particular, the name of Australian Deputy Home Minister Mark Uplong, and police chiefs in several Australian provinces.

And in June, Russia, for the same reasons, took a similar action that affected 121 Australians a day.

Since its army began invading neighboring Ukraine at the end of February, Russia has taken similar measures against hundreds of Western officials.