Trio of former Border Mail editorial staff find themselves among 121 Australians banned by Vladimir Putin's Russian regime

Moscow has blacklisted 121 Australians in response to sanctions imposed by the federal government after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

They include past Border Mail editorial members, reporters Tony Wright and Rob Harris and photographer Kate Geraghty, who now all work for Nine newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Wright reacted to the move of Vladimir Putin's apparatchiks with bemusement.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

"I'm just amazed to discover his intelligence apparatus is so good, to find that I had been plotting all the way along with 120 others and I'm very upset I won't be able to dance with the Bolshoi ballet," he said.

"I think it's pretty hilarious really and I'm not sure why I've been named, it might have been something to do with calling him a sociopath and vaulting towards the status of war criminal."

Wright is not fussed if he cannot visit Russia.

"The delights of St Petersburg hardly compare with some of the drinking spots in Albury in the old days," he said.

Harris has been covering the war in Ukraine as a London-based foreign correspondent, while Geraghty visited the combat zone in March and captured images of besieged civilians.

The former Border Mail sport reporter responded to the news with a LOL and said he was "very proud to have been personally sanctioned by Moscow".

"I've always thought QEII Square in Albury was more appealing than Red Square," Harris said.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: