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Russia has hit back at sanctions imposed on it by the EU and other western countries and will now ban the export of over 200 products including auto and medical equipment until the end of 2022.

Western governments had earlier imposed a string of sanctions on Russia, notably on oil and gas and against billionaire oligarchs, particularly those close to President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian ban is set to affect about 48 countries mostly in the EU and the US.

The order said that export exemptions can be made for Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and for members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the ban would include exports of goods made by foreign companies operating in Russia. Items include cars, railway carriages, and containers.

It comes as Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev warned that assets owned by western companies that have pulled out of Russia could be nationalised.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, western firms such as Caterpillar and Rio Tinto, Starbucks, Sony, Unilever and Goldman Sachs have all been closing shop in Russia.

However, in retaliation, the Kremlin approved legislation that took the first step towards nationalising the assets of foreign firms that leave the country.

They accused these firms of creating panic among the Russian population who now face losing their livelihoods.

On Thursday, Medvedev warned those companies exiting that re-entering the Russian market will be difficult for them.

According to the most recent figures, Russia is the UK's nineteenth largest trading partner, with trade between the two nations totalling �15.9bn over a year from the end of September 2020.