Actor Steven Seagal Barred By Ukraine Over Putin Ties
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Ukraine has banned the American action movie star Steven Seagal, who last year received Russian citizenship in a ceremony from President Vladimir Putin.
A spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, confirmed the blacklisting of Seagal, a martial arts expert whose father was a Jew of Russian descent, in a statement sent last week to the Apostrophe news site.
Seagal will be barred from entering Ukraine for five years in accordance with the SBU’s authority not to admit anyone it deems to have committed a “socially dangerous act, irrespective of the territory of its commission, which is contrary to the interests of ensuring the security of Ukraine,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement dated May 5. It was a reply to a query about Seagal by Apostrophe from last month.
Seagal visited Crimea shortly after it was annexed by Russia in the spring of 2014. The actor, who is also a musician, performed in Sevastopol. Under Ukrainian law, visitors to Russian-controlled Crimea are committing a felony unless they receive permission from Ukraine’s government.
In November, Putin presented Seagal with a Russian passport at a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, calling him “one of Russia’s many friends.”
Separately, the Facebook page of an SBU general who, according to the Unian news agency, recently retired to the reserves from active duty, on Tuesday featured anti-Semitic statements written under his name.
“I have everything against the Jews,” the text attributed to Vovk read. “You are not Ukrainians and I will destroy you and Rabinovich. Let me tell you again — go to hell, k***|*, the Ukrainian nation has had it with you.”
Vadim Rabinovich is a Ukrainian Jewish lawmaker.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
