Kiev, Ukraine. In moves more out of a bad Hollywood office movie than a cold war film, American actor and Russian citizen Steven Seagal has been blacklisted and banned from the territory of Ukraine in late breaking news.
The American actor Steven Seagal has been banned from entering Ukraine after being branded a national security threat by the Kiev based Poroshenko junta.
The Under Siege star has joined fellow actor Gerard Depardieu in being blacklisted by the authorities in Kiev.The move comes after the 65-year-old ex CIA agent was granted Russian citizenship last year, when he was personally presented with a passport by President Vladimir Putin.
Seagal, whose grandmother was from Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, has also previously described Mr Putin’s reunion with the Crimea as “very reasonable”.
The martial artist, ex-CIA Agent and musician later performed with his blues band at concerts for pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region. He is on record supporting their independence struggle in Donetsk and Lugansk, as is American boxer Jeff Monson.
Ukraine’s SBU security service has reportedly barred Seagal from the country for five years, claiming he had “committed socially dangerous actions…that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security.”
Kiev has warned anyone entering “temporarily occupied Crimea or Donbass” without permission faces being banned from future entry to Ukraine. Just yesterday the Poroshenko Administration said it will seek the arrest and extradition of 50 Italian tourist visitors to Donbass and EU member of parliament Elenora Forenza.