Moscow - (AFP) - Russia announced that 384 Japanese deputies were banned from entering its territory in response to the sanctions imposed by Japan on Russian deputies in the midst of the attack on Ukraine.

And the Russian Foreign Ministry, which published the list of deputies on its website, accuses them of "adopting an unfriendly and anti-Russian position by expressing groundless accusations against our country in connection with the special military operation in Ukraine."

Since the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine, Japan has joined in harsh Western sanctions against Moscow.

For its part, Russia issued a decree on July 1 to transfer to a Russian company the rights to the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project located in the far east of Russia, in which Japanese groups participate. The LNG produced by the project was mainly delivered to Japan.

Tokyo has announced that it wants to remain within this strategic project as a country that relies heavily on fossil fuel imports. About 8% of the liquefied natural gas that Japan imports comes from Russia.