Actors Sean Penn and Ben Stiller have been permanently banned from entering Russia, along with other ‘high-ranking officials’, by the country’s foreign ministry. The actors’ ban comes a few months after they publicly support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
On Monday, Deadline reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry released a list of people banned from the country. Besides Penn and Stiller, the list included Senators Rick Scott, Mark Kelley, Pat Toomey, Kevin Kramer and Krysten Sinema. U.S. trade officials, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, were also part of the list.
The ministry said that the list is based on the “principle of reciprocity.” They added that the “hostile actions of the American authorities, which continue to follow a Russophobic course, destroying bilateral ties and escalating confrontation between Russia and the United States, will continue to be resolutely rebuffed.”
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For the unversed, Penn and Stiller publicly criticised Russia in the war. Penn was also seen participating in relief work. He was also filming a documentary on the invasion but fled the country in February.
At the time, Penn posted a photo to his Twitter feed showing him wearing a backpack and toting a piece of luggage on wheels as he trudged along the shoulder of a road beside a line of cars stretching into the distance.
“Myself and two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road,” Penn said in a caption tweeted with the picture. “Almost all the cars in this photo carry women and children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value.” The tweet did not explain why the Academy Award-winning actor and his companions were forced to abandon their vehicle.
It said Penn had interviewed Ukrainian political and military figures as well as journalists as part of the production, for which he initially visited Ukraine in November.
