SHARE
COPY LINK

PUTIN

France’s Depardieu ruled ‘a danger to Ukraine’

France’s larger than life actor Gérard Depardieu has been added to a black list in Ukraine, which features names of people judged "a threat to national security", according to reports on Tuesday.

France's Depardieu ruled 'a danger to Ukraine'
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) greets French actor Gerard Depardieu during their meeting in Sochi in 2013. Photo: AFP

Depardieu’s name has reportedly been added to a list of around 600 individuals who have been blacklisted by the country’s ministry of culture.

Those on the list are considered a “threat for national security” and as a result Ukraine media are banned from talking about them or publishing their images.

The appearance of the controversial French actor on the black list was reported by Ouest France, who quoted Russian newspaper Vesti.

While it may appear slightly random that the star of Welcome to New York and the Asterix movies is judged a threat to Ukraine, it may not be entirely surprising.

Depardieu is a big fan of Vladimir Putin, who in January 2013 handed the French actor a Russian passport, which was warmly accepted. The actor is registered as living in the town of Saransk, with his address listed as No. 1, Democracy Street.

He has also frequently spoken out in support of the Russian president and has angered Ukrainian leaders with some of his comments at the height of the ongoing conflict in the east of the country.

According to reports Depardieu was cited for his speech at a film festival in Riga, Latvia in August 2014, when he said: “I love Russia and Ukraine, which is part of Russia.”

At the Moscow film festival in 2013 he also commended Russian president Putin.

“I do not really like presidents, I like men,” he said. “Putin is very strong. Russia needs this man. God bless his soul,” Depardieu said.

The actor is pretty much blacklisted in France too although he might not be quite judged a threat to national security, just yet.

Depardieu quit France in 2012 to become a tax resident of Belgium, a move that was judged as “pathetic” by the then French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault.

He has frequently tried to wind up the French government by claiming he “was proud to be Russian” and that called France a “sad” place led by an uninspired government where people are “fed up”.

“France is sad and I think the French are fed up. The lack of conviction… It seems that the government doesn't know how to do its job.”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

RUSSIA

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny discharged from Berlin hospital

Russia's leading opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who the West believes was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, has been discharged from hospital after just over a month, the Berlin medical facility treating him said Wednesday.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny discharged from Berlin hospital
Alexei Navalny. Photo: Uncredited/Navalny Instagram/AP/DPA

“Based on the patient's progress and current condition, the treating physicians believe that complete recovery is possible,” Charite hospital said in a statement, adding however that it remained too early to assess any long-term effects of his severe poisoning.

The 44-year-old Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner fell ill after boarding a plane in Siberia last month and was hospitalised there before being flown to Berlin.

He spent 32 days in the Berlin hospital, including 24 days in intensive care, before his release.

Germany has said toxicology tests provide “unequivocal proof” that he had been poisoned by the Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent, which was also used in a separate poisoning in 2018 on ex-double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Britain.

France and Sweden have since said tests they ran independently corroborate with Germany's conclusions.

European leaders have demanded explanations from Moscow, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that “only Russia can and must” provide answers on the poisoning.

READ ALSO: How Navalny case is poisoning ties between Germany and Russia

Navalny's allies say he may have been poisoned by a cup of tea he drank at Tomsk airport in Siberia.

But the Russian doctors who first treated Navalny said their tests did not find any toxic substances, and the Kremlin has rejected international calls for an investigation.

In his first blog post since emerging from coma, Navalny said on Monday that the three European labs had found Novichok “in and on my body”.

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

«Владимир Путин сообщил французскому коллеге: «Навальный мог сам проглотить этот яд». Хорошая версия. Считаю, что заслуживает самого пристального изучения. Сварил на кухне «Новичок». Тихо отхлебнул из фляжки в самолете. Впал в кому. До этого договорился с женой, друзьями и коллегами, что, если Минздрав будет настаивать, чтоб меня увезли лечить в Германию, они ни в коем случае не позволяли это сделать. Помереть в омской больнице и оказаться в омском морге, где установили бы причину смерти «пожил достаточно», – вот конечная цель моего хитрого плана. Но Путин меня переиграл. Его просто так не проведёшь. В итоге я, как дурак, пролежал в коме 18 дней, но своего не добился. Провокация не удалась!

A post shared by Алексей Навальный (@navalny) on Sep 22, 2020 at 12:04pm PDT

He noted that Russia had still not opened an investigation but that he “did not expect anything else.”

Navalny aides said Thursday that German experts found Novichok nerve agent on a water bottle taken from the hotel room where he stayed before being taken ill.

The bottle appears to have been key evidence for Germany's conclusion that the 44-year-old lawyer and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin was poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent.

READ ALSO: Russian opposition leader 'can walk with a tremble' after Berlin treatment

SHOW COMMENTS