Following its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Americans who were expelled of “hostile measures” against the nation.
Celebrities speaking out against Russia’s invasion banned from entry
The declaration read as follows:
“The unfriendly acts of American authorities, which continue to pursue a Russophobic course, damaging bilateral ties and heightening conflict between Russia and the United States, will continue to be decisively rebuffed.”
Stiller and Penn were barred “permanently.” Sens. Mark Kelly, Kyrsten Sinema, Kevin Cramer, Michael Rounds, Rick Scott, and Pat Toomey are also on that list. According to Fox News, up to 1,073 names have been added to Russia’s alleged “stop list.”
Ever since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Penn has been harshly critical of it to the point he openly considered using force against Vladimir Putin.
Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been permanently banned from entering Russia. Nope, I’m not Putin you on.
— Paul Lander (@paul_lander) September 5, 2022
“If you’ve traveled to Ukraine, you must have thought of fighting. You begin to wonder what century we are in. I was at the Brentwood gas station the other day and I’m now considering waging war on Russia. What the heck is going on?”
Penn continued by stating his motivation to attack Russia was motivated by his interest in the destruction caused by war.
Ben Stiller, on the other hand, praised President Volodymyr Zelensky as an “inspiring” leader while in Ukraine during the conflict’s height.
Ukraine’s president is Ben Stiller’s “idol”
During his visit, Stiller allegedly told Zelensky, “You’re my idol. What you’ve accomplished and the manner in which you’ve encouraged the nation and the world is very inspiring.”
Stiller bemoaned the devastation he had witnessed while in the nation.
He recalled, “Yesterday, I was with a woman in a nearly completely destroyed house and we were sitting in her kitchen.”
“She was offering us strawberries and had this great fortitude, saying, ‘We have to work out how to go forward.’ It’s challenging to avoid wondering how I would respond if my house had partially collapsed.”
Former DIA intelligence officer and current head of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting, Rebekah Koffler, said to Fox News that Russia’s embargo is really “diplomatic warfare.”
Ben Stiller and Sean Penn banned from Russia which is a terrorist state that bombs innocent women and children in Ukraine .
I'd say Stiller and Penn are on the right side .— Keith M. (@ksecus) September 5, 2022
“This is diplomatic warfare,” argued Koffler, “with the weaponry being economic sanctions and travel bans, rather than bombs and missiles. Meanwhile, the targets are government leaders, business executives, and high-profile persons, rather than military sites.”
“At this point, it mostly serves as symbolic. Few Americans would want to visit Russia or conduct business with Moscow. As a result of this, the sanctions against Moscow aren’t actually hitting that hard,” she noted.
“Neither have U.S. sanctions on Russia had the expected result. They haven’t significantly altered Putin’s behavior, stopped Russia’s war in Ukraine, or had a catastrophic impact on the Russian economy as it stands today.”
This article appeared in Conservative Cardinal and has been published here with permission.
