Ukraine Blacklists French Actor Gerard Depardieu For Five Years

French actor Gerard Depardieu has been banned by Ukraine from entering the country for five years.

Ukraine’s Culture Ministry has identified Depardieu and other Russia-friendly global film stars as national security threats whose movies should be banned.

Earlier this month, Kirilenko had revealed that Depardieu was blacklisted along with 117 prominent entertainment figures “who have spoken out in support of the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

In 2013, he received a Russian passport from President Vladimir Putin, after deciding to leave France to avoid paying higher taxes.

Surprisingly, Depardieu never categorically denied having made that explosive comment and is apparently quite welcome in Russian Federation.

The flat reportedly belongs to relatives of Nikolai Borodachev, the head of Russia’s State Film Fund and a friend of Mr Depardieu.

BBC reports that the actor was given a lesson in hand-scything by Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko during a surprise visit last week.

Russian Federation annexed Crimea in March 2014 after pro-Europe street protests in Ukraine chased a Moscow-backed leader from power, and has supported separatists in Ukraine’s east in a conflict in which more than 6,500 people have been killed.