Ukraine bans all Russian movies and shows made after 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law banning movies and TV series which were produced by Russian individuals or Russian legal entities after January 1, 2014. The law prohibits the distribution and screening of films and series that fall under this category.

Ukrainian parliament approved the law already in February 2015. The law also bans any films propagating activities of Russian law enforcement agencies or the Russian military.

Violation of the new regulations includes a fine amounting to 10 to 50 times the minimum wage.

Ukrainian parliamentary representative Vladimir Groisman said that the ban does not include Russian “animated films and TV series about love.” He clarified that Ukrainian television channels will have two months to meet the new regulations.

The website of the Ukrainian parliament states that the legal document “has been returned with the signature of the President (02.04.2015).”

There were several occasions upon which Ukraine banned Russian movies and shows. In December 2014, 71 films featuring Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin were banned in Ukraine. Okhlobystin had visited the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions and had voiced his support for the separatists. Ukraine also banned the screening of three films featuring Russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov, who was shown in a video firing a machine gun in Donetsk, a city located in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine.

In 2015, Ukrainian officials have taken action to ban Russian advertising from Ukrainian TV and to limit access to Ukrainian government events for Russian journalists