Russia has published a list of 18 US officials barred from the country, in response to a similar US list published by the US Treasury on Friday.
A statement described the US move as a severe blow to relations, and said blackmail could not be ignored.
The US published its list under an act named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail in 2009 in disputed circumstances.
It includes officials who jailed him after he accused them of corruption.
But senior officials from President Vladimir Putin's entourage who had been expected to be included were left off, including Russia's top police official Alexander Bastrykin.
Russia's list, announced by the foreign ministry, includes two former Bush administration officials who are said to have advocated harsh interrogation techniques and two former commanders of the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.
David Addington, chief of staff to former Vice-President Dick Cheney is one of them.
The other 14 were named as having violated the rights of Russian citizens abroad.
"The war of lists is not our choice, but we cannot ignore outright blackmail," a statement from the Russian ministry said.
"It's time for Washington politicians to finally understand that there are no prospects in building relations with a country like Russia with the spirit of mentoring and undisguised dictating."
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying there was also a secret section to the list with more names, as the US list had.
A Russian law barring Americans from adopting Russian orphans, regarded as a response to the US law, has already been passed.
