According to news website Apostrof, the ban materialized after a letter originated from Ukraine’s national security service, the SBU.
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Depardieu’s decision to become a Russian citizen two years caused a public backlash and diplomatic incident in France where he was accused of fleeing the country to avoid paying high taxes.
Depardieu first outraged Kiev’s new pro-Western leaders by striking up a close friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and once reportedly even denying the very existence of an independent Ukraine.
French actor Gerard Depardieu holds a hand scythe in the presidential residence of Ozerny, outside Minsk, Belarus, July 22, 2015.
He told a film festival in the Latvian capital Riga last year, “I love Russian Federation and Ukraine, which is part of Russia”.
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Ukraine’s culture ministry released a list of actors, musicians and other figures that it deemed as “Russia-friendly”, and stated that they posed a national security threat. His 1990 film “Cyrano de Bergerac” earned him an Oscar award nomination. Moreover, Russian Federation and more specifically Putin is commonly believed to have backed corruption-tainted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his cabinet, which was overthrown by pro-European protests last year, reported World Bulletin.
